The Raja Ampat Marine Affairs

and Fisheries Agency established a grouper hatchery in mid-2011 focusing on highfin grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) to support community grow-out of hatchery grouper to reduce pressure on wild stocks which are largely depleted in the region. The larvae are currently being sourced from outside the region during the trial phase, but it is hoped that once a local brood stock has been established fingerlings MLN0128 can be sourced from Raja Ampat to minimize genetic mixing of stocks and introduction of pathogens. Seaweed has also been established in Raja Ampat and Kaimana Regencies and Cendrawasih Bay, with several villages now actively cultivating Eucheumoid algae for sale to the carrageenan industry. More recently, villages in Mayalibit Bay in Raja Ampat are trialing mangrove crab (Scylla serrata) grow-out, whereby juvenile crabs are collected this website and placed in pens constructed in healthy mangrove forest environments for grow-out. With the exception of pearl farms, other mariculture and aquaculture efforts are still in their infancy in the region. The BHS is not only rich in renewable natural resources but also in crude oil, gas and minerals such as gold, copper and nickel. The region’s main mining products are oil and gas located in the regencies of South Sorong,

Bintuni Bay, and Fakfak and Kaimana. The most controversial mine in Eastern Indonesia is Indonesia’s (and the world’s) largest open-cut gold and copper

Grasberg mine, owned by Freeport Indonesia, that provides nearly 50% of Papua province’s GDP and is the largest tax payer to the Indonesian government (Resosudarmo and Jotzo, 2009). The company is responsible for the discharge of 125,000 tonnes/day of mine tailings into the Ajkwa River (Brunskill et al., 2004), and associated environmental damage. Although mineral mines in West Papua are comparatively smaller, companies frequently operate without proper control of excavation run-off (Fig. PLEKHM2 10a), and with little to no social responsibility. The Indonesian government is committed to increasing its overall hydrocarbon production to meet its target of 960,000 barrels/day. Government policies are being revised to encourage the rapid expansion of oil and gas exploration and production throughout the Indonesian archipelago, including the Makassar Strait, North Ceram Sea, Halmahera and Papua (especially Cendrawasih Bay, Raja Ampat and Kaimana in the BHS). Contracts can be issued to local or foreign companies to operate in ‘Mining Areas’ that have been designated by the national government. Currently, the largest gas project ‘Tangguh Liquefied Natural Gas’ is positioned to extract natural gas from fields in the Bintuni Bay area for export to countries outside of Indonesia. With reserves of 14.4 trillion cubic feet, this gas field is predicted to generate USD $3.6 billion for the government of West Papua and USD $8.