Seagrass meadows support coastal livelihoods, but how habitat-use frequency reflects overall livelihood dependence remains insufficiently understood. We surveyed 200 fisheries-based individuals across coastal villages in the Kei Islands, Indonesia. Outcome-specific regression models examined associations between fishing strategy, seagrass-use frequency, livelihood contribution, catch quantity, gross catch value, environmental perceptions, and management support. Invertebrate/gleaning-only fishers had significantly lower odds of frequent seagrass use than finfish-only fishers (odds ratio = 0.013; 95% CI: 0.002–0.099), whereas mixed fishers showed no clear difference from finfish-only fishers. Fishing diversification showed no clear association with proportional livelihood contribution, nor did fishing strategy associate with catch quantity or gross catch value. Furthermore, associations of seagrass-use frequency and livelihood contribution with perceived environmental change, threat recognition, and management support were inconsistent across outcomes. Thus, pronounced differences in habitat-use frequency among fishing strategies do not reliably reflect other livelihood and management dimensions. Assessments of seagrass-associated fisheries should treat habitat use, livelihood contribution, fisheries outcomes, and management attitudes as complementary indicators rather than assuming a single measure represents the others.
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