For centuries, the Bajau Laut, an indigenous seafaring community in Southeast Asia, have lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle, relying on the ocean for sustenance and income. But with environmental pressures mounting, their traditional way of life is rapidly disappearing, leaving them to adapt to new realities on land.

Bilkuin Jimi Salih, a 20-year-old member of the Bajau Laut, reflects on his upbringing. Born on a houseboat known as a lepa off the coast of Semporna in Malaysian Borneo, Mr Salih learned to dive at a young age, a skill passed down through generations. “One of our specialties is that, because we live on the sea and we’re always in the sea, we can dive in the water for a long time,” he explained to CNN. “We learn by observing, and from there, we develop our own technique.”

The Bajau Laut community is biologically adapted to life at sea, with larger spleens that help them hold their breath for extended periods, allowing them to dive for sea cucumbers, abalone, and spider conches. However, overfishing and environmental degradation are making it increasingly difficult to survive through traditional fishing practices. “We could easily get a bucket of abalone and sea cucumbers before, but now there’s hardly any,” said Mr Salih. “Other high-value fish are also available less. So for us to rely on the sea as a source of living is now very difficult, very challenging.”

As the marine environment deteriorates due to climate change and overfishing, many Bajau Laut families, like Mr Salih’s, are abandoning their houseboats in favour of stilt houses. The cost and complexity of maintaining lepas have made them unaffordable for many, and the shift to more sedentary living has reduced the community’s ability to adapt. “We are less adaptable now, relying more on a specific island or reef,” Mr Salih added.

The region, once a haven for marine life, has become increasingly vulnerable. Rising sea surface temperatures, ocean acidification, and coral bleaching are damaging fish habitats, worsening the challenges faced by coastal communities. “Coastal communities living by the sea are highly vulnerable to climate change phenomena,” said Adzmin Fatta, programme manager at Reef Check Malaysia. “The worsening marine environment and scarcity of fish has made many low-income fishers desperate.”

Illegal fishing practices, such as blast fishing and cyanide fishing, are common in the region as fish stocks dwindle. These methods not only harm the fish population but also cause significant damage to coral reefs. “Fish bombing is cheap and easy,” said Mr Fatta. “A fish bomb costs around 15 Malaysian ringgit (Rs 665) but could provide 2,000-to-3,000-ringgit worth of fish (Rs 88,700 to Rs 1,33,050).”

Plastic pollution is another growing problem, with discarded water bottles, crisp packets, and flip-flops frequently spotted in the water. Robin Philippo, director of the Tropical Research and Conservation Centre (TRACC), believes tourism is largely to blame for the increasing waste. “The carrying capacity of Semporna compared to the waste that is being produced, I think that’s the unsustainable factor,” he explained.

Despite these challenges, the Bajau Laut community remains largely stateless, with many living in legal limbo without access to basic services like healthcare, education, and utilities. An estimated 28,000 Bajau Laut live in Sabah, and 78 percent of them are undocumented. This lack of formal citizenship excludes them from many conservation efforts, as their traditional knowledge is often undervalued.

Adzmin Fatta believes that one of the barriers to effective conservation is the “unequal opportunities” faced by the Bajau Laut. “Without formal citizenship, they often don’t see themselves as having a role in conservation efforts,” he said.

Tokyo:

Japan has expanded its commercial whaling to include fin whales, the second-largest animal species on the planet, a decision criticised by Australia’s government on Thursday.

One of only three countries to hunt whales commercially, along with Norway and Iceland, Japan added fin whales to a catch list that already includes minke, Bryde’s and sei whales.

“Essentially, our rationale is that there are sufficient resources” of fin whales, a fisheries agency official told AFP on Thursday of the plan to hunt 59 of them this year.

Fin whales are deemed “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Japan’s decision, mooted by authorities for months but only made official on Wednesday, has alarmed animal rights activists.

Australia is “deeply disappointed”, environment minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement.

“Australia is opposed to all commercial whaling and urges all countries to end this practice,” she said.

It comes as international drama surrounds prominent anti-whaling activist Paul Watson, who was arrested in Greenland last month.

Watson, the 73-year-old American-Canadian founder of the activist group Sea Shepherd, was detained under an international arrest warrant issued by Tokyo.

Denmark’s justice ministry — Greenland is an autonomous Danish territory — said on Thursday that it has received a formal extradition request from Japan for Watson.

He was arrested after docking to refuel in Greenland’s capital on the way to “intercept” Japan’s new whaling factory vessel in the North Pacific, according to the Captain Paul Watson Foundation.

The Kangei Maru, a 9,300-tonne mothership that set off from Japan in May, processes whales caught by smaller vessels and stores their meat for consumption in Japan.

Japan has hunted whales for centuries and the meat was a key source of protein in the years after World War II.

It carried on hunting whales for “scientific” purposes after an International Whaling Commission (IWC) moratorium on commercial whaling, killing hundreds in the Antarctic and North Pacific.

However, after years of tensions that took a toll on its international reputation, Japan quit the IWC in 2019 and resumed commercial whaling inside its territorial waters and exclusive economic zone.

Japan killed 294 whales last year, a number it says is sustainable.

A panel of experts commissioned by the agriculture ministry said in June that Japanese fishermen should be able to hunt fin whales.

Agriculture minister Tetsushi Sakamoto at the time called whales “an important food resource”.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)