He holds the title “Rajo Menanti”, which means the king who serves the people. Muhammad Kamil is one of six ninik mamak who is responsible for making the highest decisions regarding the lubuk larangan in Merangin Village, Kuok District, Kampar Regency, Riau Province. Together with the ninik mamak, he determines the schedule for the harvest, customary sanctions, and the process of monitoring the lubuk larangan.

Lubuk larangan is a customary way of conserving fish in certain body of waters in some areas of Sumatra. In Kampar Regency there are at least fifty lubuk larangan along rivers, reservoirs, and lakes. The system revolves around a time-bound fishing restriction – like sasi laut in Maluku and Papua – where freshwater fish are only allowed to be caught for a certain period according to customary decisions.

“When I was a teenager, the local fishes—Baung, Belida, River Eels—were very abundant and large in size. Nowadays, some local fish are hard to find,” he said. According to Kamil, habitat fragmentation and barriers to fish pathways are some of the factors contributing to local fish population demise.

To halt the dwindling fish populations, Kamil look up to his elders’ way. The lubuk larangan he is now managing has been around since the 70s and is still functioning well. Not only beneficial for the fish population, lubuk larangan provides social and economic benefits for the surrounding community. During the harvest season, the fish caught will be auctioned off and the proceeds will be used for village development, places of worship and traditional houses development, and other community activities.

“Those who violate the customary rules of lubuk larangan will be subjected to sanctions, such as cleaning the village and public facilities, making a banquet for the villagers, or the highest punishment: giving sheep or goats to the customary people. Awareness and involvement of citizens, especially the younger generation, is very important in the sustainability of lubuk larangan," continued Kamil.

He feels that the youth of Merangin Village are quite involved in the management of the lubuk larangan. Those who are members of the Merangin Village Youth Association actively supervise activities in lubuk larangan as well as, patrolling against illegal logging in ulayat (customary land) areas. Their participations are crucial for inland water ecosystems, as the inland ecosystem in the watersheds also has an impact on river water quality and fish populations.

By its nature as a customary law, lubuk larangan regulations can be different among local communities. Everything is determined by an agreement among local ninik mamak. As of today, there are no government regulation in Kampar district that regulates the management of lubuk larangan. Therefore, the FAO-IFish Project works with stakeholders to endorse lubuk larangan and ecosystem approach to fisheries management in inland waters, to be formalized into government regulation.

At the end of conversation, Kamil expressed his appreciation for IFish project and the local government in embracing the ninik mamak to work on the sustainability of lubuk larangan in the District of Kampar.