Bajo ‘Keeping Relationship’ with Octopus for Future Livelihood
The Bajo people have learned a valuable lesson in protecting the sea and its living creatures. The wisdom behind their “preserved relationship” with the octopus is that they conserve nature for the sake of the future.
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Husain Onte, an octopus trader, weighs an octopus caught by fishermen in Bajo Torosiaje Village, Popayato, Pohuwato Regency, Gorontalo Province, Friday (15/7/2022). Husain and a number of other traders agreed to only buy octopus with a size of more than 300 grams.
The fortunes of the Bajo tribe in Torosiaje, Pohuwato regency, Gorontalo, are intimately intertwined with the fortunes of the octopus. They not only live on its revenue as an export commodity, but also use it to formulate medicinal concoctions. Concerned about possible extinction, they “protect” the octopus.
Yanto Sompah (30) meticulously weighed and measured the diameter of an octopus among his catch with a plastic ruler at a resident's house in Torosiaje on Friday (15/7/2022). The sorting activity, which was done to ensure that each octopus was above 300 grams, was recorded by smartphone.