Buano Island is a large island surrounded by mountains and small islands in West Seram Regency, Maluku Province. Buano Island is an island that has clear sea water quality and habitat for various types of marine animals. This is what makes Sudin Mahelatu, a fisherman who continues to enthusiastically maintain the marine potential on Buano Island so that it continues to be sustainable.

In addition to having a background as a fisherman, Sudin Mahelatu also doubles his profession as a Soa Head (Customary Head in Maluku language terms) and "Kewang Laut" (in Maluku community terms meaning Sea Guard). Sudin has been mandated as Kewang for 32 years, since the reign of King Mahmud Hitimala until the reign of the current King, Abdul Kalam. Kewang is one of the social institutions applied by almost all villages/nations that uphold customs. The purpose of implementing Kewang in the customary land is to protect the water area and the marine biota in it from the actions of people who carry out destructive fishing such as bombs, tranquilizers and potassium cyanide to get a lot of catches with little capital.

"The potential of the sea must be preserved and protected, if we don't preserve it, how will we preserve it for our children and grandchildren in the future," said Sudin, who struggles voluntarily and selflessly to preserve and protect the sea of Buano Island. He is still doing this profession until now, even without the help of others, he feels very proud to protect the island of his birth.

Sudin Mahelatu is also a member of the Community Supervisory Group (Pokmaswas) in Negeri Buano. With the formation of Pokmaswas in Negeri Buano, he feels more enthusiastic to continue protecting the island of Buano. "Alhamdulillah, with the presence of WWF, CTC and LPPM in this country, I have gained a lot of new knowledge so that I can continue to protect the sea and the types of fish, such as stingrays, dolphins, kaluyu, teteruga deng and pung eggs," he explained.

Often he found fishermen from outside Buano Island who came to catch using chemicals, namely potassium cyanide, which was injected in the coral reef so that the fish on the reef would faint, so they would get a lot of catches and little capital in one fishing activity. "How many times have we gotten fishermen who molo (dive) pake the compressor and dong bring potassium lai par (to) inject in the reef, but when beta can see, dong immediately kasi bunyi (start) the engine then dong run away (run away)" he said.

With the limitations of his boat and engine, he could not chase the fisherman to be given awareness, nor did he have communication tools to take documentation. "Katong from this country su often kasi tau dong fishermen jang (do not) have lai (more) fishermen who pai (go) fishing (fishing) pake chemical drugs because kalo (if) sampe katong can know da pung orang, katong directly report at the Sub-District Police Station", he added.

Sudin's daily activities include fishing for cendro (Tylosurus acus) for daily food to support his 8 children, 2 grandchildren and his wife, and to support other family needs. His busy life as a fisherman is not an obstacle for him to continue to fight against illegal fishermen who often enter the Buano Island area.

"Beta once had a fisherman from Kasuari Island come molo (dive) at Tanjung Putia and then beta saw dong (they) pake compressor. <"I immediately told the fishermen to hurry up and approach the body (their fleet), and I immediately told the fishermen who were moloing inside to get on top of the body, after which I asked them where they came from and I told them to follow the rules in this country," Sudin said.

The purpose of implementing Kewang in a village/country is to directly encourage and enforce government regulations on the prohibition of the use of bombs, potassium and compressors listed in Indonesian Law No. 45 of 1009 concerning Fisheries.

After the implementation of Kewang laut in Negeri Buano, there are almost no more fishermen who commit illegal fishing, especially bombing, drugging, and compressors. The knowledge of the sea Kewang and Pokmaswas has increased due to the presence of WWF-Indonesia and CTC as implementing partners of the USAID Sustainable Ecosystems Advanced (USAID SEA) Project, which provides knowledge about the supervisory community system, the importance of protecting the marine ecosystem, the types of protected animals, and the handling of stranded mammals.

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