Definition
Spatially and geographically defined, marine or coastal areas in which specific management measures are applied to sustain important species [fisheries resources] during critical stages of their life cycle, for their sustainable use (UNEP, 2005)
Refugia Concept
- NOT be “no take zones”, ·
- Have the objective of sustainable use for the benefit of present and future generations·
- Provide for some areas within refugia to be permanently closed due to their critical importance [essential contribution] to the life cycle of a species or group of species·
- Focus on areas of critical importance in the life cycle of fished species, including spawning, and nursery grounds, or areas of habitat required for the maintenance of bloodstock
- Have different characteristics according to their purposes and the species or species groups for which they are established and within which different management measures will apply·
- Have management plans
Summary
The Department of Fisheries Malaysia has identified tiger prawn at Kuala Baram and the mud spiny lobster on the east coast of Johor that needed intervention in order to secure the sustainability of the fisheries resources. The Department has developed a management plan for both the fisheries refugium to ensure the sustainability of the fisheries resources.
The refugia on the east coast of Johor and Kuala Baram cover an area of 17,784 km2 and 852 km2, respectively. The refugia approach is not an extension of the no-take zone. It is a set of specific actions specifically crafted to protect the targeted species. In the case of the mud spiny lobster, the DOFM takes three key steps,
- No-take of juvenile lobster (carapace length <6 cm),
- No-take of berried female
- Close fishing season in the sensitive area is crucial for spawning in the refugium from December until the last day of February in the coming year.
In addition, constructing artificial reefs to increase habitats for the adult lobster has been recognized as an aid to sustain the lobster population in the refugium.
While the refugium for the tiger prawn is subdivided into two areas, Area A covers the nursery ground in the coastal area. In contrast, area B covers the spawning ground located in a deeper area up to 50 m water depth. Area B extends from the shore up to 12 nautical miles.
Tow trawlers are prohibited in area B from August to October yearly. Besides, the Department will implement size and weight limitations for the tiger prawn in the fish landing jetty. Artisanal fishers are encouraged to harvest Tiger prawns exceeding the total length of 30 cm and body weight exceeding 90 g. Concurrently, a scheduled restocking will be conducted to ensure continuous larvae existence in the refugium.
The Department realizes the importance of stakeholders’ engagement in co-managing the fisheries refugia. DOFM has established the National Fisheries Refugia Management Committee (NFRM). The NFRM will be advised and guided by the National Scientific and Technical Committee (NSTC) regarding the scientific and technical aspects.
Most importantly, the site management committee is the refugium program’s key driver in implementing the management plans. The site management committee is represented by fishers, government agencies, local councils, researchers, and industrial players in the supply and demand chains.
DOFM recognized the significance of financial sustainability in the implementation of fisheries refugia. Several strategies have been outlined to raise funding to support the execution of the management plan which includes the establishment of National Trust Fund for Refugia and exploring new potential of funding from various conservation organizations.
DOFM has drawn a five-year plan for the fisheries refugia; the program’s performance will be evaluated annually and revised from time to time. With a proper management framework, support and endorsement from stakeholders, and guidance from SEAFDEC, UNEP, and GEF, the fisheries refugia shall contribute to sustainable fisheries, particularly the small-scale fishers, in protecting the fisheries resources, as well as improve the social economic status of the artisanal fishers.
Limiting fishing activity may not be enough to achieve sustainable fishery exploitation due to a non-linear relationship between the animal size and egg production. However, catch restriction of animal of particular size and life stages may potentially maintain the population
Pauly (1997)
Refugia Team
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Spiny Lobster Refugia Site
Map showing the location of the spiny lobster refugia site, covering an area of approximately 1,717 km2 at East Johor, Peninsular Malaysia
Tiger Prawn Refugia Site
Map showing the location of the tiger prawn refugia site, covering an area of approximately 852 km2 in Kuala Baram area, Miri, Sarawak
Google Earth View
Other Refugia sites in The South China Sea under the SEAFDEC/ UNEP/ GEF Program.
(click image to view on Google Earth)
Two areas identified for the fisheries refugia management around the Kuala Baram, Miri include the nursery ground (Area A) Batang Baram, Sungai Pasu, Sungai Lutong and Sungai Miri and the spawning grounds (Area B) involving deep waters (depths up to 50m) off Kuala Baram up to 12 nautical miles from the beach with the total area of 852 square kilometer.
As the fisheries refugia aims for sustainable fisheries, the protection of P. monodon at different life stages is proposed. Some of the elements taken into account for the success of P. monodon Fisheries Refugia are the revision of harvest methods and fishing gears during close season, environmental parameter analyses for 10 years seasonal forecast modelling, determination of allowable size for capture of P. monodon to >30cm Total Length (TL) and >90g Body Weight (BW) as well as financial sustainability plan.
The close season is proposed to be implemented between August and October to protect female spawners during their high reproductive period and allowing the offspring to grow without the risk of environmental disturbance caused by fishing activities.
P. monodon is a large brackish-marine prawn widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific area from Africa, to South East Asia and the Sea of Japan as well as Australia and Mediterranean Sea (Cawthorne, 1983; Nahavandi et al., 2011), generally at 30°E to 155°E longitude and from 35°N to 35°S latitude (Motoh, 1985). P. monodon are found in waters of 18-34.5°C and 5-45 ppt salinity (Chen, 1990; Branford, 1981). Commercial fishery of this prawn species is being carried out intensively in most tropical countries particularly Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines (Motoh, 1985).
Ecologically, penaeid shrimps have to go through two major ecosystems: the offshore and the coastal inshore environments in order to complete their life cycle. Mature penaeids breed in deep water while post-larval and juvenile shrimps inhabit inland marshes; estuaries, brackish water and mangrove areas, and then they migrate back to the sea for maturation and breeding (Mosha & Gallardo, 2013).
P. monodon resource in Malaysia is scattered and very much associated with deep marine water next to a healthy mangrove ecosystem such as in the waters of Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Kelantan, Sabah, Labuan and Miri in Sarawak. In Miri, Sarawak, P. monodon was found to be the largest and one of the most important commercial prawn species (Hadil et al., 2017), with 62.5% of its resources found in the area between 11m to 50m deep while the remaining percentage were reportedly caught in shallow waters (Hadil & Albert, 2001). P. monodon are mostly found in the waters off Kuala Baram and are not caught in large quantities (Hadil et al., 2017; Hadil, 2007).
In general, the morphology of P. monodon is similar to other penaeid shrimp species, such containing a cephalothorax, tail, five pairs of swimming legs (pleopods) and walking legs(pereopods). This species is then distinguished by their distinct black and white stripes on the backs and tail. P. monodon are large in which they can grow up to 330mm or greater in lengthwith females are generally larger than male shrimp (Kiel, 2013).
The larval development stages of P. monodon consist of 6 nauplius, 3 protozoea and 3 mysis before they entered the juvenile and postlarvae stages (Fig. 5). The larval development of P. monodon takes place at the offshore for they are planktonic. At the end of the postlarvae stage, P. monodon move to the nursery ground at the estuaries which include wide brackish water rivers (mostly upstream and middle portion), mangrove swamps and interior portions of enclosed bays where they become mostly benthic. In this area, shrimps are exposed to wide physico-chemical fluctuations (especially temperature and salinity) (Motoh, 1985).
During the last 3 years from 2019 to 2021, P. monodon landings in Malaysia were 1237, 1302 and 1418 metric tonnes.The annual P. monodon landing percentage contributions by each region of Malaysia: West Coast Peninsular, East Coast Peninsular, Sarawak, Labuan and Sabah are roughly about 20%, 15%, 1%, 10% and >50% respectively.
The exploitation of P. monodon in Sarawak has been going on since early 70s after the introduction of trawl gear. Since then, the fishing activity increased with annual catches of 19 MT until 1990s. Landings fluctuated after 1990 with the lowest catch at 11 MT in 1998 (Hadil & Helmi 2001). For the last 3 years: 2019, 2020 and 2021, P. monodon landings in Sarawak were 11, 13 and 11 metric tonnes respectively. The wild P. monodon population in Miri, Sarawak is the few remaining healthy P. monodon populations in Malaysia.
Fishers that were involved in the tiger prawn fishery were divided into artisanal and commercial trawlers, mainly focused on usage of drift net, 3-layered drift net, hook and line and bottom trawling. While drift nets, 3-layered drift nets operate in coastal waters below 5 nautical miles, the bottom trawlers operate until 15 nautical miles to fish. In all cases, tiger prawns are considered as incidental catch, not targeted. However, the landing of tiger prawn has shown an undulating curve and is not stable.
In Malaysia, the concept of fisheries refugia is gaining momentum as it provides alternative protection to the MPA’s no-take zone. The no-take zone, to some degree, affected the livelihood of the small-scale artisanal fishermen who could only harvest seafood from the nearby coastal water.
Lobsters are one of the much sought-after commercial marine species in Malaysia and elsewhere in the world. In the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, there are at least five main species of spiny lobsters, namely Panulirus polyphagus, P. versicolor, P. homarus homarus, P. longipes longipes and P. ornatus (Alias et al., 2000). Based on the few studies on spiny lobsters in Malaysia, the mud spiny lobster is commonly found along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, extending from Kelantan in the north down to Johor in the south (Alias et al., 2000).
Among these five species, P. polyphagus is the most dominant commercial species and can be found in abundance in East Johor waters. However, the mud spiny lobster are now facing a declining trend, as revealed in its twenty-year landing data (Mohd Ghazali et al., 2016). In relation to that, East Johor records the highest landing of spiny lobster in Peninsular Malaysia.
Endau is the main landing center for mature lobsters while Sungai Musuh is the major landing site for juvenile lobsters in the southern part of east Johor. Habitat, fishing grounds, and landing jetty for juvenile lobsters are located mainly around Pulau Lima in the coastal areas of Pengerang
The mud spiny lobster (Panulirus polyphagus) is widely distributed across the Indo-Pacific region covering the Maldives and Bengal Bay in the Indian Ocean, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and extended to Australia.
The mud spiny lobster is classified as the least concern in the IUCN red list. Even though the mud spiny lobster is of the least concern from the perspective of biodiversity conservation, the declining trend in Malaysia suggested the need to conserve the fisheries stock.
The mud spiny-lobster Panulirus polyphagus is commonly found in the muddy area. Occasionally, the mud spiny lobster could also be found on the rocky bottom near a river estuary (Holthuis, 1991).
For the spiny lobster P. polyphagus, the juvenile lobsters are usually found along the shallow coastal habitat while the adult lobsters are usually found in the deeper sea bed of East Johor waters. Thus, the adult lobsters are often caught by bottom net trawlers while traditional fishers such as traps and drift nets operators target the juvenile lobsters. Every year, the newly grown adult spiny lobsters will embark on a migration to deeper sea from their coastal habitat for breeding and spawning purposes (Alias et al., 2000).
During the day, lobster hide in the crevices of the rocks. Lobster is nocturnal and will come out from the rock crevices for feeding at night. The mud spiny lobster is a carnivorous predator that preys on benthic organisms (Kanciruk, 1980). Their prey usually includes sea urchins, snails, crabs, sea moon leeches, clams, and bivalves (Kanciruk, 1980; Holthuis, 1991).
The lobsters take four to six years for juveniles to grow and reach sexual maturity.The sexually matured lobsters will migrate to a deeper environment for spawning and complete their life cycle. Siow (2021) reported a sensitive area for lobsters south of Pulau Aur.
The mud spiny lobster has high fecundity yet low survival in an ever-changing environment. The planktonic stage of the lobster larvae is relatively long (from a few months up to about two years). The larvae drifted following the sea current circulation pattern (Lipcius & Eggleston, 2000).
Although the lobster reproduced throughout the year, the spawning mainly happened from September until January (Kagwade, 1988). The mature lobsters will migrate into deeper water (>40 m) for spawning. During the mating process, the male lobster will stick its spermatophore on the abdomen of the female lobster. The female lobster then fertilized the eggs by scratching open the spermatophore (tar spot) to release the sperm.
The female lobster then carries the fertilized eggs. The larvae hatched from the eggs will be released into the water column and drift by the sea current. The larvae also known as phyllosoma, is planktonic and often carried by the sea current offshore.
The transition from the pelagic phase to the benthic phase begins with a major change from a transparent leafshaped phyllosoma carried by the current to a transparent puerulus stage that resembles a shrimp and can swim fast against the current.
The peurulus will swim to the shallow coastal water, and eventually settle on the benthic environment. The late-stage puerulus will seek refuge in rock crevices or holes in mangroves, coral reefs, and other habitats, including seaweed and seagrass bed (Herrnkind, 1986; Dennis et al., 1997, Siow et al., 2018). After several ecdysis, the puerulus will grow into the juvenile lobster. The juvenille lobster will stay at the coastal area until it grow into mature adult and continue the cycle.
In the life cycle of the mud spiny lobster (P. polyphagus), the juvenile lobsters are usually found along the shallow coastal habitat while the adult lobsters are usually found in the deeper sea bed of East Johor waters. Thus, the adult lobsters are often caught by bottom net trawlers while traditional fishermen such as traps and drift nets operators target the juvenile lobsters. Spiny lobsters are nocturnal animals, which spend most of their time hiding in rocky crevices to avoid predators and only come out occasionally to find food, especially during the night.
Every year, young adult spiny lobsters will embark on a migration to deeper sea from their coastal habitat for breeding and spawning purposes (Alias et al., 2000). This breeding and migration season begins in early July and by August the number of gravid females aggregating in the spawning area will be higher than other time. During this critical moment, the spiny lobster population is susceptible to overfishing due to the risk of capture by the fishermen.
The captured fisheries statistic indicated a decline in the lobster landing in Malaysia (1986 – 2021). Therefore, a management plan is required to ensure the sustainability of the lobster fisheries, particularly on the east coast of Johor.
The spiny lobster fishery in East Johor mainly focused on three main gears, namely bottom trawl nets, drift nets and lobster traps. While the drift nets and traps are operated by traditional fishermen in the shallow coastal waters less than 5 nautical miles from the shoreline, commercial bottom trawlers which operate at deeper waters (above 5 nautical miles) do catch spiny lobsters as bycatches in their fishing operation. However, the landing trend of spiny lobsters in East Johor has been on the decline (Figure 8). From an annual landing of more than 330 metric ton in year 1988, the current landing has decreased to less than a third in year 2019 (DOFM, 2021).
Annually, the landing of spiny lobsters usually increases toward the latter part of the year during the onset of the northeast monsoon (October to March). Fishing activities during the monsoon season would likely be affected by the constant bad weather but for those who braved the choppy sea would likely catch more spiny lobsters.
