and designed by higher government levels. When the village government has a meeting, the
village head informs his wife about new developments. She will invite or inform the minister’s
wife and the head of the school, who will pass the message to others.
Not only are women excluded from decision-making, they could neither name anybody to
represent them. As a result, the women feel excluded from “official procedures”. This was
confirmed by 23% of the respondents of the general survey who considered women to be
completely outside of decision-making processes.
13.2.4 Profile of fishers
Only 70% of the fishers in our sample were born in Hulaliu; the other 30% came from other
parts of the island, Saparua and Ambon. The sample comprised one female respondent only.
The average age of the respondents in our sample was 47 years, while half of the respondents
were under 45 years old.
The fishers have on average 6.6 household members. Children who have left have gone to
school or work. One-third of the households have an externally derived income averaging
Rp485,700 (USD194, early 1997 rate) per year. In our sample, 60% of the people have only
elementary education.
Eighty percent of the respondents own land. Seventy-seven percent had type 4 housing (cement
with zinc roof). The economic indicator of the fishers’ sample is made up of adding scores for
land ownership, boat type, house and gears (see Section 2 and Appendix 2). At Hulaliu, this
indicator is 8.7 (with a standard error of 0.38), which is middle range. Adding TV ownership
as a factor, the score rises to 9.1, close to the average for the case study sites (see Appendix 3).
The average years the men spent in the fishery is 25. Compared to the other five villages,
Hulaliu fishers spend relatively short periods at sea with on average 6 hours per day, with 2-
5 hours being most common. In this light, it is not surprising to see that Hulaliu fishers get
significantly less of their income from fish compared to fishers in Tuhaha and Nolloth, this
being only 56%. Besides, a relatively large part of the catches (26%) is used for consumption.
Eighty percent of the fishers said they were satisfied with their job. They described it as their
“hobby”, and felt that fishing was good because it provides them with a daily income. The
disadvantage of fishing is that it is a hard life. Half of the fishers would change their job if
there was a better alternative. Some fishers aspire to have their own fishing business. For
their children, only 10% the fishers aspired a future as fishers. The majority (70%) preferred
their children to become government employees.
13.3 Market Attributes
13.3.1 Local fish trade
Nearly all fish sales are made directly to local consumers, usually through the fishers’ wives.
The key factor in choosing the point of sale is its proximity. A part of the fish goes to
wholesalers. On an average, a third of the fish caught is eaten by the family. Of the 30
respondents, seven eat more than half of their catch, while five fishers do not eat any of the
fish they catch at all.
Desa Hulaliu, Haruku Island 165