for people to invade the easily accessible sasi area. Compliance depends greatly on the firmness
of the village head (and the church minister). Every month, a few offenders are caught. Most
are young men who steal coconuts to buy cigarettes or just for the fun of it. Written information
with exact data on compliance rates and types of offenses is not available in Tuhaha.
12.8.3 Social sustainability
9. Family well-being
The economic well-being of the fisher households has significantly improved compared to
the past. The reasons, according to the respondents, were the village development programs,
family assistance by the village government, and increased personal efforts. Various people
mentioned “increased efforts” as having an effect on personal well-being: positive for those
who want to work harder or negative for people who were not able or willing to put more
efforts into the fishery and other activities. In the end, it was explained, some became richer,
and some poorer. No further changes are expected in the future.
10. Income
Fishers report no changes in income over the past 15 years and expect income to remain static
in the future as well. The fishers have a pronounced bimodal distribution, i.e., they fall into
two groups: “poor” and “rich” (also see above). Fishing yields have declined, but the price of
fish has risen which makes up for the loss in income.
11. Tradition of collective action
People were previously more involved in collective activities. Generally, past performance was rated
high (mostly score 8-10). The perceived downward change compared to the past is significant. The
reasons given for the decline are increasing individualism, the payment system through which people
have to pay for assistance, alcohol abuse and low awareness (i.e., “loss of values”). From the notes, it
also became clear that the village head or the church can either stimulate or obstruct collaboration.
The expected future drop is also significant despite the fact that nearly half of the respondents noted
that conditions will stay the same or improve, because collective action is part of the tradition.
12. Discussion of village issues
Discussion of village issues is less compared to the past and future prospects are also negative.
The fishers noted that their input in village matters depends largely on the village head.
13. Community harmony
Community harmony has declined significantly, and further decline is expected. Education
and changes in the way people raise their children are causing more conflicts in the village.
Alcohol abuse is also an important factor. Finally, population growth was mentioned. This
possibly refers to conflicts over land.
Conflicts at the village level (which were not directly mentioned by the fishers) were those
between traditional and formal village authorities. These conflicts have their roots in the 1960s
and caused the formal village government (LMD) to be dysfunctional over the last few years.
The demand for acknowledgment of traditional authorities is currently being addressed
through the revitalization of sasi, when adat will become an integral part of the village structure.
156 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia