Progress Towards Development Of Alternative Livelihoods In The Tun Sakaran Marine Park

Fishing and gleaning in the area now within the 350km Tun Sakaran Marine Park has caused stocks of reef fish and other edible species to fall to low levels. Efforts are now being made to reduce exploitation of marine resources in order to protect biodiversity and allow stocks to recover.

Implementing measures to reduce fishing effort will inevitably have an impact on communities that currently rely on fishing to make a living. For this reason it is important to investigate alternative or supplementary livelihoods in order to avoid hardship for these communities.

The Community Census (2006) revealed that fishing was the main occupation of approximately 30% of households in the Park. Virtually all of these households were from the Bajau Laut ethnic group which in 2006 amounted to 114 households. There has been some movement within and in and out of the Park since that time, but no significant long-term changes in the number of Bajau Laut households.

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