Expert and Local Community Evaluations of Site Suitability to Support Mariculture Planning in Indonesia

Research on the value of local ecological knowledge has flourished in recent years, but is still relatively under-used in mariculture development planning. This research assesses a site suitability approach for net-cage grouper mariculture off Kaledupa Island in Indonesia. Biophysical capability analysis identified a 4,511 hectare marine area capable of sustaining grouper farming within a 8,582 hectares coastal study area. Suitability analysis on marine areas defined as capable which utilized the local ecological knowledge of villagers identified 2,667 hectares as potentially appropriate for development. Suitability analysis that relied upon expert knowledge was much less detailed and defined 4,083 suitable hectares as poten¬tially appropriate for mariculture development. These results confirm that local ecological knowledge can be a powerful supplement to marine spatial planning conducted as part of a broader mariculture development process and must not be overlooked.