An institutional analysis of sasi laut in Maluku, Indonesia

Acknowledgment of a problem

Even though fish catches and the state of the resource have declined dramatically, the limitation
of catches, and fisheries management in general, is not yet an issue. The women mentioned a
decline in the number and size of sea shells and they thought that over-exploitation was the
reason for the decline. Nevertheless, this was not a reason to limit or regulate the harvest. The
same attitude is expressed by the male fishers.

Other women still use the extracts of poisonous plants to fish in the shallow waters, even
though the women know it is harmful and is prohibited. Generally, most fishers do not seem
to link their activities to the general decline in resources. Besides, they believe that resources
will always be available since they are “a gift of God”. The lack of knowledge and awareness
causes people to disregard regulations.

13.7 Patterns of Interaction

Currently, Hulaliu is in the process of revitalizing sasi. The idea has been initiated by the
village head who is also the kepala adat and as such, is entitled to do so. The procedure followed
is slow and carefully designed. This because the last attempt to revitalize sasi in 1986 by
Taihutu, failed due to a strong contra movement. This course of events is likely to happen
again. Currently, the strategy of the village head was to start initial deliberations with the
village officials and the sub-district government respectively. After the LMD approved the
plans, the village head talked to the church minister to ask for his collaboration.

At that stage, the villagers were not informed or consulted because the village head was
afraid that his opponents would sabotage the plan. First, the village head wanted to have the
regulations approved by the sub-district so that he would have formal support and could
send for the police if people did not cooperate.

In November 1997, a kewang head was installed and 30 kewang members selected. The selection
went through the kepala dusuns who asked the people in his area who were interested. The kewang
members initially consisted of representatives from different families (“everybody with the right
skills can join”), but, of course, these were those who approved of the plan (and the village head).

Sasi rules

The objective of the new sasi rules is “the protection of the culture through the exclusion of
outsiders” as Noija described it. The rules aim to keep people from destroying the resource
and from taking unripe products, e.g., top shells and sea cucumbers.

The current set of sasi regulations is a combination of the formal fisheries rules and traditional sasi
regulations with some adaptations to the current situation. These fisheries regulations are written
down. The rules for resource use are applicable to terrestrial and marine resources (see Table 13.3).

Besides these harvest restrictions, there is a restriction on the mesh size for the karolo nets,
used by lift nets in the pelagic fishery (>1.5 mm).

The marine sasi area will be divided into three parts: a specific are for sea cucumbers in the
central part, the Mencadu shells are protected in the northern part, and top shells in the southern
part (see Figure 13.1).

Desa Hulaliu, Haruku Island 171

<<   184   185   186   187   188   189   190   >>

More intriguing information