Economic needs
Economic needs, however, as a result of the drought at the end of 1997 that caused crops to
fail, and the subsequent monetary crisis, forced people back into the fishery. Even people
who never fished before joined the boats of the established fishers and learned “on the job”.
Economic needs are an important incentive for over-fishing.
Stabilization of leadership
The village leader plans to use the re-institutionalization of sasi and adat institutions. This is
partly to legitimize his position, partly to meet the villagers’ demands for stronger
management. The position of the current village leader, however, is weak. The formal village
government is not fully functional either. This situation is a strong disincentive to comply
with, or support, local management.
Tradition
In the eyes of traditional leaders, Hutumuri is an adat village. After the formalization of the
village government structure, the adat laws were not exercised consistently and as a result,
the villagers have developed an indifferent attitude towards adat. The youths in Toisapu are
involved in some adat activities like the “cakalele” dance, but the adat tradition has lost its
significance for them. If sasi regulations for resource management are going to be re-
established, they will only be respected and continued if they are designed in a way that is
meaningful to the village youths and young fishers.
Role of the church
The influence of the church on people is significant. However, people are rather conservative,
and sometimes it is hard to motivate people because they like to see results first before they
start new activities. If the people see that a program has a positive effect, it will be an incentive
for them to cooperate.
J. Istia, the church minister, explained that a strong leader has to be aware of the needs of the
people, should be well educated and “live by example”. The current leadership, however, is
weak and unstable. The church is a more stable institution, and because the people are more
involved, they prefer the church programs to those of the government. It is thus important to
involve the church in any resource management or livelihood development efforts.
15.7 Patterns of Interaction
Except for a concrete barrier built to protect the village shoreline from wave erosion, the
village government has not yet coordinated any action to protect coastal resources. It claims
to be helpless against the outside fishers who come from all over Indonesia, e.g., Madurese
and Butonese fishers. They fish the Hutumuri waters right up to the shoreline, ignoring the
200 m zone off the shore line where no commercial fishing is allowed.
Fishers identify two major problems: the inability of village government to manage resources,
and competition between local artisanal and large-scale commercial fishers. However, the
fishers are not represented at government meetings.
206 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia