Chapter 16
Comparative Analysis of Case Study Sites
16.1 Introduction
This chapter is a comparative analysis of the six case study villages: Nolloth and Haruku
with a strong sasi institution, Tuhaha and Hulaliu where the sasi institution is dysfunctional
and was lost in living memory, and Seri and Hutumuri-Toisapu, two villages that never had
sasi or lost it a long time ago. Contextual variables that are compared among the villages are
classified as biological and technical, socio-economic, institutional and organizational, and
external. Fisher attitudes and performance indicators (e.g., efficiency, equity and sustainability)
in the villages are also compared. The significant relationships between contextual variables,
attitudes and the performance indicators are then investigated. This enables us to identify
some factors that have an impact on coastal management in central Maluku fishing villages.
Detailed demographic information of the six case study villages is presented in the individual
case studies and in Appendix 3.
16.2 Comparison of Contextual Attributes of Case Study Sites
Biological and technical attributes of the case study villages were largely comparable (Table
16.1). Hulaliu and Hutumuri, being more focused on exploitation of land resources, were less
dependent on fisheries. The village territories were physically similar, the main difference being
the degree of wave exposure in the marine territory. Tuhaha differs from the rest in being
enclosed within a bay, whereas Nolloth, Seri and Hutumuri-Toisapu are fully wave-exposed.
Haruku and Hulaliu are intermediate, as they face narrow straits rather than open sea.
Available fish resources are everywhere similar, but pelagic fish are particularly abundant off
the coast of Seri. Both Seri and Hutumuri waters are dominated by the commercial baitfishery.
In every village, most fishers are artisanal and small-scale and most use simple gears and do
not own motorboats. Fishers with no gears or no boat work as crew on commercial vessels or
participate in communal fishing activities. These fishers are most numerous in Nolloth and
Haruku, least numerous in Hutumuri. There were no lift net owners in either Haruku or
Nolloth. Top shells and sea cucumbers appear to be only available in guarded sasi areas.
In their socio-economic and market attributes, the villages are also rather similar (Table 16.2).
Of interest is that most villages in central Maluku define their marine territories as extending
only to the edge of the fringing coral reef. In Tuhaha, however, the village claims a large area
in Tuhaha Bay, while Seri claims an even larger part of the sea. Ownership, or at least the
right to collect access fees, is applied for deep sea waters i.e., as far out to sea as can be seen.
Three of these Christian villages had a minority of Muslim fishers, although we did not
interview any of them in either Seri or Tuhaha. Fishers in the sasi villages were much more
likely to be related to socially important clans (soa besar), compared to the fishers in more
heterogeneous villages on Ambon Island (Seri and Hutumuri). The main distinguishing
feature of the non-sasi villages was their proximity to the city of Ambon with its markets,
employment opportunities and more advanced infrastructure. Of the villages on the smaller
islands, Hulaliu was the most isolated.
Comparative Analysis of Case Study Villages 213