An institutional analysis of sasi laut in Maluku, Indonesia

The village government uses the financial benefits from marine sasi for development projects
and infrastructure. The villagers thus benefit indirectly. To the villagers, sasi is meaningful,
especially in regulating thefts and general destruction of resources. It is considered relevant
and important to village life and “people are used to it.” The cooperation of traditional and
government authorities and the church, in the context of sasi, serves as a model for cooperation
in village life and contributes to social sustainability.

Fishers, as a group, do not participate in the development of sasi and other fisheries regulations,
and there is mild resentment over the fact that the system of selling harvest rights seems to
benefit the rich more than the poor. The sasi system thus proves not very equitable, but it is
still highly legitimate. On the other hand, sasi in Nolloth is certainly efficient: decisions are
made with a minimum of fuss by a respected central authority and the rules are enforced at
no cost by volunteers in the kewang. The biological outcomes are also positive. Despite the
severe general resource degradation, the sasi area has relatively healthy resources. Sasi rules
are only applied to two commercially interesting products in a small area and sasi, therefore,
has little impact on the larger fishery.

Although the ladder survey indicated strongly that marine resources (and fish catches) are in
decline, fishery problems in the sense of over-fishing are not generally acknowledged. Pollution
and the use of modern fishing techniques are seen as having a major impact on the fishery but
interventions to deal with these are not suggested. Although they need to go further and further
for their daily catch, most fishers still catch enough to cover their daily needs. The impact of the
decline is also obscured by the fact that fish prices have increased and, thus, rewards are still
good. The species caught have changed dramatically over the years. From inshore fishing on
demersal fish, the fishery is now nearly fully geared towards pelagic fish in the open sea.

However, there are no plans for enhanced fisheries management outside of the sasi regulations.
The sub-district, regional and provincial levels of government do not support monitoring or
enforcement of fisheries regulations in Nolloth. Since sasi regulations are limited in scope
and area of application, there is a need for more elaborate fisheries management. Collaboration
between village and outside organizations such as Yaysan Hualopu are, therefore, important.
Collaborations with other institutions should be developed to: 1) educate people and
complement people’s knowledge on the environment to facilitate resource management, 2)
support a process to monitor sasi, and 3) facilitate productive activities (additional income) to
support sasi. There is also a need for higher government levels to provide more information,
suitable legislation, and support.

120 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia

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