efforts, the sasi institution continued to survive and evolve in many villages, and in 1921, the
Dutch actually supported sasi once more by formalizing the institution with the decree called
“Het recht van Sasi in de Molukken” (the rights of sasi in Maluku).
During World War II, the period of occupation by the Japanese represented an extreme threat
to all adat institutions. Lack of appropriate ceremonial cloth and other goods meant that adat
rituals could not be performed according to tradition, so that in this period, many substitutions
were made (Cooley 1962). Indonesian independence involved civil war in Maluku, a time
when many leaders were lost and clans scattered. Integration into the new nation of Indonesia
meant a further blow to the local indigenous language and culture because Indonesian Malay
became the language of compulsory schooling. Subsequent decades of civil strife and political
turmoil at local and national levels doubtless continued to challenge the strength of local
culture. In more recent decades, cultural change has intensified as economic development
proceeded. By the 1960s, there was a confident prediction (Cooley 1962) that sasi was doomed
to disappear “in the very near future”. But although weakened over time, sasi never
disappeared. Sasi rules, developed at the community level, are still used by communities to
control and maximize harvests as well as to regulate aspects of social behavior.
The aim of sasi and its function in resource management and conservation have been debated.
Zerner (1994a) argues that, although there may be spin-off benefits in terms of resource
sustainability, sasi is essentially an institution for managing social interactions, mediating
tenure disputes and maximizing economic returns, rather than a resource conservation and
management institution per se. On the other hand, sasi clearly was performing a conservation
function in the 1920s, when the use of poisons in the fishery was banned under sasi rules
(Volker 1925). Today, sasi is again undergoing change, with a renewed emphasis on
conservation aspects (Zerner 1994a).
The application of sasi to marine resources may have never been as widespread as sasi on land
crops. Zerner and Thorburn (forthcoming) have speculated that in its original form, marine sasi
was applied only to pelagic fish, with the objective of protecting migratory fish from disturbance
so as to maximize harvests for local consumption. In the decades following the 1930s, the
emerging international markets for top shells and sea cucumbers appeared to have prompted
the development of additional types of marine access prohibitions and related ceremonies in
places such as the Kei Islands in southern Maluku (Zerner and Thorburn, forthcoming). Similar
rules are evident in central Maluku today and appear to date back at least to the 1960s.
There is another adat institution linked to sasi, the Latupati, which is a venue for meetings of
traditional leaders at the island-wide level. The Latupati in the Lease Islands (i.e., Saparua,
Nusa Laut and Haruku) has been effectively dormant since the passage of the legislation on
village governments in 1979. However, a revitalized Latupati may have potential as a regional
resource management body. In 1996, the first Haruku Island Latupati meeting in 20 years was
held as a consequence of the efforts of NGOs interested in developing the marine resource
management capacity at the island and regional levels. Subsequently, NGO interventions
have also led to the revival of the Latupati on Nusa Laut Island in 1998. On Saparua, there is
also a Latupati but it is currently used only as a venue for the planning of annual social events.
3.3 Historical and Current State of Inshore Fisheries Habitat
Sir Alfred Wallace, on his expedition to Ambon Bay in the 1850s, marveled at the incredible
diversity of corals and fishes. Eastern Indonesia, including central Maluku, is part of the
Regional and Village Level Context 31