5.3.2 Fish market structure
The process of selling fish may involve one or more of a number of participants at different
levels of the market chain, i.e.,
• Fishers or commercial boat crew.
• Retailers /vendors (papalele or jibu-jibu).
• Fish brokers (tuan lelang or borok).
• Wholesalers.
• Fish export and processing companies.
Artisanal fishers and boat crew who receive part of their pay in the form of fish may sell their
fish directly to the consumer. Fishers act independently; there are no existing organizations to
assist with marketing, management or distribution of information. Therefore, their position in
the marketplace is weak and they have no control over the price they receive for their catch.
In most cases, fish are sold through an intermediary. For small-scale and artisanal fishers,
this is most likely to be a papalele (in Christian villages) or jibu-jibu (Muslim). These retailers
are almost always female (except for those in the market in the city of Ambon). Often they
are the wives of artisanal fishers or boat crew or, if not, they are full-time fish traders. In
smaller ports, the women gather on the shore early in the morning to meet incoming fishing
boats and compete for baskets of fish being landed. Each retailer generally handles one or a
few particular types of fish. As a group, these women are also unorganized, with each one
acting as an independent in competition with the rest. With the exception of family ties, there
are no contractual or other agreements between the retailers and fishers. They do not, for
example, advance loans to artisanal fishers; all transactions are cash.
Over the past ten years, the numbers of these female fish vendors have increased rapidly.
This is particularly true in Seri, where the pelagic fishery has also undergone rapid expansion
and access to the Ambon market has improved due to newly developed roads.
Each retailer usually has the ability to market 1-2 loyang daily. A loyang is equivalent to two
10 kg baskets of fish. Fish prices vary according to the species, size of the fish, their freshness
and the season (i.e., whether fish are scarce or abundant). Each retailer tries to buy the amount
of fish she is sure of being able to sell immediately. They are most successful if they sell early
in the morning, and especially when there is a shortage of food in the market. There are two
selling styles: from market stalls and door-to-door. It is the latter group which is responsible
for the majority of fish sales to both city and village consumers. The bulk of the fish trade is
in pelagic species. Reef fish are hard to find in the central markets. Other species traded
include squid, cuttlefish and octopus.
When a fish vendor fails to sell all her fresh fish in the morning, the remainder may be taken
home and smoked, then taken door-to-door for sale in the afternoon. When fish are abundant,
a vendor from a small village may smoke several hundreds in order to have enough to make
a trip to a larger market such as Masohi or Ambon. They will also make a special run to the
city to sell large, highly priced fish such as tuna.
Commercial fishers (seiners, lift nets) may sell part or all of their catch to pole and line fishers
as bait. If they choose to sell at the Ambon market, they usually send their catch through a
broker/auctioneer called the tuan lelang or borok. These relationships are not defined by written
contract but are based on mutual trust. Fish brokers are usually male, although there are
several female fish brokers working in Tulehu. At the markets in Masohi and Saparua town,
54 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia