Indonesia’s Avatar Sea Nomads Enact Indigenous Rules to Protect Octopus

Picture: Japesda/Mongabay

In an article by Mongabay, Sarjan Lahay explores the role of the Bajo sea nomads in Sulawesi, Indonesia in creating a sustainable fishing economy.

The Bajo are itinerant mariners hailing from Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Venetian explorer Antonio Pigafetta documented the diffuse group of sailors in the early 16th century. Five centuries later, Hollywood director James Cameron would draw inspiration from them for his film Avatar: The Way of Water. Fisheries accounted for 71.7% of the labor market across three Bajo villages surveyed by the research team, suggesting adequate nutrition and the ability to pay for health and education are tied inexorably to the fate of the community’s fishery.

Research on how octopus and other cephalopods respond to climate change is divided. Some studies conclude their natural fitness may give them competitive advantage as more vulnerable marine species suffer in warmer, more acidic seas. Like many fishers here, Abdul Khalik Mappa said he worries the weather is becoming increasingly erratic as the climate changes, and that a depleted fishing ground poses acute risks to his community of sea nomads. Abdul, who chairs a local association of fishers, said he can’t earn a living whenever storms circle over this part of Sulawesi.

In response to these shifts, the Bajo community elected to shutter the fishery for six months, from Nov. 4, 2023, to May 7, 2024. The Natural Resources Management Advocacy Network (Japesda), an NGO based in Gorontalo, has assisted the Bajo people in drafting sustainability policy since 2021. Jalipati Tuheteru, Japesda’s field manager in Torosiaje, said the organization needed around a year to win hearts and minds in the community.