but the people have taken many.” The women felt that the harvests were small, but still sufficient.
Apart from shellfish, fish catches have also declined dramatically. Nearly all fishers in our
sample reported reduced catches (also see Section 13.8.4). The use of modern gears, increased
fishing efforts, and especially blast fishing, cause catches to decline. The use of destructive
fishing techniques, like bombs, appears to be prevalent and was mentioned by nearly 30% of
the respondents as a major cause for coral reef destruction. Other human activities that have
an impact on the resource are the harvest of corals for house construction, littering, the use of
toxins and the increase in the numbers of fishing gears.
13.1.3 Fisheries technology
Angling (pancing) is the most common fishing technique used by Hulaliu fishers. Other
techniques used are nets, fish traps, spears, beach seines and lift nets (bagans). Of our
respondents, 43% had only hand lines and 27% had nets. Six fishers (20%) owned no gear at
all. About 70% of the village households (22 fishers in our sample) have a boat, but only one
fisher has an engine.
The fishers also report the use of bombs and poisons in the local fishery. Blast fishing takes
place mainly in the coral reef area at the transition between the shallow and deep waters.
According to the fishers, these are the breeding grounds for fish and usually left alone. Often,
economical pressure is said to be the driving force behind resource destruction, but currently
the area is subject to local bombers who are said to act out of discontent with the current
village government (read: village head).
There are three lift nets operating in Hulaliu waters owned by Asnanolaita, Noija, and a third
person. A fourth lift net is under construction. The lift nets provide baitfish for hook and line
fishers from Ambon Island (Galala, Halong, and the city of Ambon).
There are also five beach seiners operating in Hulaliu. These seiners target baitfish used by
pole and line fishers. The beach seines are made of the karolo net that has been used since the
1970s. This net is generally regarded as a destructive fishing technique because of the extremely
small meshes. There are two types of beach seine nets. There is the “siru siru” net which is
used for puri puri fish only, and has a mesh size of 3 mm. There is also the kareng kareng which
is used for both laor (a type of worm) and puri puri fish (a tiny fish used in food). This net has
a mesh size of only 1 mm.
Large-scale fishing activities in the area are limited.
Auctioned fishing rights
In the 1980s, Maurits Taihutu, the village head at the time, decided to rent out parts of the sea
to outsiders. It is, however, not unlikely that even before this date, fishing rights were sold.
The entrance fee, paid to the village head, was supposed to be shared with the kewang that
would use it for its meetings. However, Taihutu neglected to share the money and had a
dispute with the kewang. In the process (when sasi also declined), the kewang ceased to exist.
Contrary to the history of sasi, though, the rental system still exists.
Regardless of their catch, outsiders pay Rp40,000 a day to the village. Revenues for the village
can reach up to Rp350,000 (± USD150, 1996 rate). The shallow area is extremely suited for
traditional gears like the hook and line (using small baitfish), floating nets, cast nets, and the
bubu (a fish trap). The fishers are supervised by the villagers, who take the opportunity to
Desa Hulaliu, Haruku Island 161