5.2 Cost of Entry, Income Levels and Profit Sharing
5.2.1 Artisanal sector
The cost of entry to the fishery largely depends on gear type. The cheapest option is a hand
line or home-made spear costing less than Rp10,000 (USD4, early1997 exchange rate). To use
this gear, a fisher does not even need a boat, although most do have a dugout outrigger canoe
(perahu) costing Rp100,000-Rp150,000 (USD40-USD60). Home-made fish traps (bubu) woven
from local materials are the next least expensive option. With these simple gears, fishers may
catch 2-60 fish a day, depending on the fishing area, season and phase of the moon. Typical
incomes (1997) range from Rp2,000-Rp50,000 per fishing trip.
5.2.2 Small-scale commercial
Nylon nets are more costly and to fish with larger gears, a fisher needs to invest in a long boat
(Rp4-5 million) and outboard motor (Rp12 million or more, approximately USD4,800) and
take on a crew. For the smaller boats in this sector, a crew may be made up of fewer than 10
men, whereas the larger boats carry 20-40 crew. A 70m giob net, one of the most commonly
used in the small-scale fishery, cost Rp263,000 in 1997. In general, the cost of all sorts of
nylon nets increased by 100-200% in 19983 . Nets must be replaced or repaired regularly,
sometimes after only a few months. Small-scale net fishers bring in from 2-4 (small boat) or
2-20 (larger boat) baskets of fish per trip with perhaps 50-200 fish per basket depending on
the species. This catch is shared among the boat and gear owners and the crew (see below).
The smallest commercial net/boat owners estimated their average gross incomes to be in the
range of Rp20,000-Rp50,000 per fishing trip (USD8-USD20, early 1997 rate) with expenses
ranging up to Rp10,000. With larger boats, owners may make Rp0.5-1 million and expend up
to Rp100,000 per trip, depending on the distance to the fishing ground.
Some artisanal fishers have been upgraded to the small-scale sector through government programs.
Recently, the fishing companies have also become involved. For instance, P. T. Sumber Aneka
Tata Bahari (a fish processing company) has provided loans to fishers in three villages for the
purchase of motorized small boats. To repay the loans, fishers give the company half their catch.
In each village, there are traditional arrangements for sharing catches on small-scale boats
employing crew. In a typical example from Tuhaha, the catch from a fishing trip is divided
into nine shares as follows: three shares for the captain (i.e., the boat owner), two shares for
the net owner (also usually the boat owner), two shares for the helpers who fish and two
shares for the boat drivers. The boat owner pays running costs i.e., gas and, if there is no fish,
food for the crew. For an afternoon net haul in near shore waters, the catch is split in two: half
for the net owner, half for the crew (20-40 men).
For night fishing, the catch may be split into three portions: one share for the lamp tenders,
one for the net owner and one-third to be divided among the net crew (20-40 men). Before
making this division, everyone gets to take some fish for food. Usually five baskets are set
aside as food fish. The rest of the catch is then sold and the money divided up according to
the share agreement. In some villages, the crew give part of their catch (fish or money) to the
minister and/or the church and also some to the kepala desa.
3In 1998, the volatile Rupiah ranged between 5,400-14,800 per USD.
50 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia