Mariculture in SE Sulawesi, Indonesia: Culture practices and the socio economic aspects of the major commodities

South East Sulawesi, Indonesia (120° 45′-124° 06′ E: 3°-6° S) has a rapidly developing mariculture sector. The sector essentially consists of small scale farmer owned/leased, operated and managed systems located mainly in rural coastal villages. The study was aimed at evaluating the nature and the socio-economics of the major culture practices in SE Sulawesi. The number of households engaged in mariculture in SE Sulawesi increased from 9929 in 2001 to 31,086 in 2012. Over the same time the culture area increased from 1193 ha to 26,950 ha and production from 9400 t to 640,226 t, with the main commodity, being the seaweed species Kappaphycus alvarezii (cottonii) and Eucheuma denticulatum (spinosum), accounting for more than 95% of the production, followed by grouper species. In addition farming of lobster, winged pearl oyster and sea cucumber, all based on seedstock collected form the wild, also occurs. In this paper the practices of the four major commodities cultured in SE Sulawesi, viz. seaweed, groupers, lobsters and winged pearl oyster are described and are based on information collected through a number of surveys conducted in the Buton and Muna Islands and in Kendari, in 2012-2013. Accordingly, information on the farming communities, such as the average age of farmers, years of farming experiences, education level and other related aspects together with information on the culture cycle duration, yields, and costs involved for each commodity are presented. For example, in seaweed culture the annual production (by dry weight) per farm ranged from 0.4 to 42 t/yr (mean 6.1 t/year) and the crop size ranged from 0.1 to 10.0 t/yr (mean 1.2 t/yr), and equates to around 1 t/ha and 6 t/ha/yr (assuming 6 crops per year). Operating costs for seaweed culture ranged from IDR 0.01-10.7 × 106 (mean IDR 2.08 × 106), and were mainly for purchase of seed (63%), fuel (20%) and labour (16%). Cost of Production (CoP) ranged from IDR 1000-8000/kg (mean IDR 4900/kg). Policies, strategies and planning to further develop mariculture in SE Sulawesi will need on-going support of farmer clusters, along with training in business management and marketing that will help empower farmers and provide them with the ability to have more influence on the market chain. Environmental factors will also need to be taken into account when planning the development of new and expanding mariculture activities, particularly changing environmental conditions associated with monsoonal weather patterns, and ensuring impacts of farming activities on the environment are minimised.