How a Lease Agreement Protected 300,000 Acres and Created an Ocean Economy
2005: Andrew and Marit Miners, diving in Raja Ampat's remote waters, discovered paradise underwater and horror on the beach - an active shark finning camp on Batbitim Island. The contrast was stark: the world's richest reefs below, a graveyard of shark carcasses above.
With meager funds - they began construction in 2005. No experience in conservation, architecture, or island politics. Just determination. They set up a sawmill, milled 600 cubic meters of reclaimed driftwood, and recruited workers from nearby villages.
The shark finners were given notice through the lease agreement. They left. No protest. The villages had spoken through their traditional rights.
A beach covered in shark carcasses is now home to baby sharks in the shallows. Former shark finners patrol waters they once plundered. Not through enforcement alone, but through agreements with communities who hold traditional rights to their ancestral seas.
The Misool model proves protection works: secure community rights, provide economic alternatives, hire local guardians, maintain absolute protection. No compromises, no partial measures, no fishing at all. Complete protection, backed by steady donor support.
Fish biomass up 29% since 2007, after a sharp dip. Sharks far more abundant inside the closed zones than outside, with survey counts up since 2012. Dozens of illegal boats turned back each year. All from a lease agreement and the courage to say: these waters are closed. When extraction ends, life returns - and economics follow.