Mangrove crab fishery commodities have high economic value, one of which is in the Aru Islands. The area of mangrove forest that reaches 156,524 hectares makes mangrove crabs much sought after by the people and fishermen of Lorang Village, Aru Islands. Every week fishermen can produce 7-10 crabs. In recent years, this commodity has experienced a decrease in quantity and quality such as the number and size of crab catches.

This condition indicates the importance of sustainable fisheries management to maintain the availability or population of mangrove crabs in mangrove forests. Accurate and routine data collection is the first step to effective mangrove crab management. On November 1-6, 2024, FRCI held training on mangrove crab catch data collection in Dobo and Lorang, Aru Islands in collaboration with Forest Watch Indonesia. The training used the IKAN (initiative on the Collaborative Fisheries Data Collection) scheme, which was attended by 11 local fishermen and 4 Forest Watch Indonesia staff.

The FRCI team represented by Intan Destianis Hartati and Nurul W. Q Manik introduced the IKAN platform and the data input process used for data collection including trip data, vessel data, operational data, and biological data on mangrove crab catches, up to uploading to the server. Through the training, important information was obtained related to the flow of using bubu as a mangrove crab fishing gear, sorting crabs that are worth selling and crabs for fattening, the total weekly catch, and the distribution of crabs from the Aru Islands to become an export commodity to Singapore.

Through these training activities, fishermen can have better skills in collecting mangrove crab data. Thus, effective mangrove crab management can be implemented based on accurate data.