More than a third of all elasmobranch (shark and ray) species are at risk of extinction due to overfishing. Indonesia is both a hotspot of elasmobranch biodiversity and one of…
Concerns about the environmental impacts of deep-sea mining have increased over the past few years, and for good reason: nearly 77% of the seafloor, home to highly unique biodiversity, has…
For decades, the nomadic Bajo people have crisscrossed the seas of Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia. But due to pollution, climate change, overfishing and other harmful practices, their way of…
AMBON, Indonesia — The Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has designated four new marine protected areas (MPA) around a group of islands in the eastern province of Maluku.…
BANGKA BELITUNG, Indonesia — A conflict that flared up at the start of the year between traditional fishers and illegal miners in Indonesia’s Bangka-Belitung Islands has once again highlighted the…
BOMBANA, Indonesia — Syukur Dullah grew up surrounded by a fringe of intact reefs off Lora, before the bombings decimated corals near the village in Indonesia’s Southeast Sulawesi province. “This…
Fishing is integral to millions of Indonesians’ livelihoods and identities, with an estimated 2.5 million households involved in small-scale (non-industrial) fishing and aquaculture. Small-scale fishing includes a wide variety of…
BANGKA, Indonesia — In the lore of Bangka Island, one of the world’s main tin-producing centers, the rocky, white-sand beach of Tuing holds a special place. Tuing Beach is one…
BANGKA, Indonesia — For more than two decades Ardianto has walked to the coastal mangrove trees from his village in Indonesia’s Bangka Island at sunrise with a triangular net, searching…
This is the third piece in a three-part series on recruiting aboard Thai-run slave boats in the country's fishing industry. Read the first two here and here. s soon as…
The world’s coastal mangroves are under pressure from increasing industrialization and growing populations, especially in Southeast Asia, where mangrove forests are still frequently converted into aquaculture developments. Wiping out a…
One night nearly four years ago in Mahachai, a gritty port town near Bangkok, Akaradetch Seri was down on his luck. A fight with his girlfriend had left him out…
Preserving mangrove forests is instrumental to bringing down emissions rates in Indonesia, a leading carbon polluter. Residents of Deaga village in North Sulawesi province also believe it is key to safeguarding their…
An Indonesian artist is preparing to put in place the second in a series of giant underwater installations meant to serve as a home for fish and raise awareness about…
Like all big fishing ports in Indonesia, Tanjung Luar is one that you can smell before you see. At 7 a.m., it is a thick crowd of fishwives, turmeric painted…
On Thursday, Rizal Ramli replaced Indroyono Soesilo as Indonesia’s coordinating minister of maritime affairs. The task of overseeing multiple ministries is not foreign to Ramli, who served as coordinating minister…
n the wake of renewed revelations of slavery aboard Thai-run fishing vessels in Indonesian waters and the discovery of people-smuggling camps and migrant mass graves near the Malaysia-Thailand border, Thailand’s…
bdul "Bolong" Hanan had a baby turtle in one hand and a toothbrush in the other. He scrubbed the squirming two-month-old vigorously before plopping it back into one of the…
Sangihe lies between Indonesia's Sulawesi island and the Philippines' Mindanao island in the Celebes sea. Image: Google Indonesia’s crackdown on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing has so far focused…
:00 am; Labuhan Lombok, Indonesia. It's offloading time on the 30-foot-long M/V Nusa Indah 2. Crewmen pop the lid off the hold and pull yellowfin tuna from the icy pool…
A Malaysian-flagged vessel was blown up in the waters of Belawan for illegal fishing in Indonesian waters. Photo: Ayat S Karokaro. The Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry redefined fireworks…
A fishing boat off the coast of Java. Photo: Rhett A. Butler The Indonesian Financial Services Authority (OJK) has organized dozens of non-bank financial institutions to support the country's maritime…
Fish being loaded into a truck for processing and export in Batu Putih, North Sulawesi. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. In late December, Indonesian officials seized a Panamanian-flagged, Chinese-manned vessel…
Pemuteran Bay, the site of a community-based ocean management program in North Bali. Photo: Aji Wihardandi The Indonesian government is preparing a spatial plan for its marine territory, the beginning…
A fishing boat, which was flying Indonesian colors, is sunk off the coast of Riau, Sumatra on February 9, 2015, after the fishery ministry evacuated the all-Thai crew. Photo courtesy…
Wooden fishing rigs off the coast of Java. Photo by Rhett A. Butler. The Indonesian fisheries ministry has introduced two divisive pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the sustainability of…
Fish being loaded into a truck for processing and export in Batu Putih, North Sulawesi. Photos by Rhett A. Butler. Today Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) signed a memorandum of…
Reef manta rays (Manta alfredi) swim off Nusa Penida in Indonesia. Photo Credit: Paul Hilton/Greenpeace For the first time, Indonesia has sentenced an illegal manta ray trafficker to jail time…
