An institutional analysis of sasi laut in Maluku, Indonesia

For the Haruku people, sasi is highly significant. Due to the involvement of Yayasan Hualopu,
a local NGO, the people in Haruku have become more environmentally aware than those in
most other villages. Their idea that sasi is important to “preserve the environment until
everything is ripe, to keep it sustainable and in good shape” is underscored by sasi rules that
are meant to protect resources, e.g., the obligation to plant a tree at the riverbank after you
have cut one, the prohibition on oil spilling and the bans on destructive and overly-efficient
gear types. Although sasi is not exclusively meant to preserve the resources, it creates potential
for sustainable resource management.

11.5 External Institutional and Organizational Arrangements

Links between the community and government fisheries management institutions

Recently, an official from the fisheries department assessed the fisheries resources of the village
to see which have potential for development. The government programs in the village were
mainly training: for the LMD, the women’s organization, and for the fishers on the use of
motorboats.

Links with higher government bodies

Links with the higher government levels are limited. Government officers, including fisheries
staff, visit the village irregularly. The village head knows that there are fisheries laws, but
new laws are not actively communicated to the village. Fisheries management in Haruku, as
in the other villages, is not yet an issue and the fishery tends to intensify due to the government
subsidies for new nets and programs such as IDT, which supply new fishing gears.

The village government is subject to the sub-district government. The possibility for the village to
bring up ideas and forward these to the higher provincial or national governments, however, is
limited. The local government could make propositions and deliver them to the sub-district
government for approval, but this office has no independent authority to approve the plan. This
is a problem where it concerns the mining permit, which was issued from Jakarta. There is no
structure that allows either the village government or the kewang to appeal against this decision.

Collaboration with other institutions

Since 1995, Haruku has been the scene for various coastal zone management promotional
activities like workshops. Over the past years, several institutions and organizations have
carried out training and programs: 1) Pattimura University (the Environmental Studies Center
and Fisheries Faculty) on aquaculture and development, 2) local NGOs (e.g., Hualopu and
Baileo) and several government agencies were involved in several training and awareness
programs, 3) JANNI, a Japanese organization, supported a mangrove rehabilitation program,
4) OXFAM has included Haruku in its study tour, 5) the Department of Industry initiated a
wood-carving training, but 6) the most prominent visitors were representatives from Ingold
and Aneka Tambang to give lectures on community involvement in the proposed mining.

External economic influences

In the Strait of Haruku where local fishers operate, they face competition from large-scale
fishing companies including the government-owned P.T. Perikani, based in Ambon.

Desa Haruku and Sameth, Haruku Island 133

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