Published by
Mongabay
Mongabay
RAJA AMPAT, Indonesia — Esterlita Jabu says she still remembers the gut-wrenching horror of hearing explosions from blast fishers near the beach where she played as a child with her friends. “Not only you could hear it, but also you could feel the vibrations,” she tells Mongabay during a visit to her village on the island of Mutus in Indonesia’s Raja Ampat archipelago. Today, 33-year-old Esterlita is a member of the island’s community volunteer group that patrols the waters for illegal and destructive fishing. Methods such as blast fishing and cyanide fishing flourished in the waters of Raja A…