Whereas pole and line vessels normally take all their catch to the nearest processor, seiners
often hold back a portion for the Ambon market where prices are better. The highest quality
fish are sold fresh or frozen into export markets, or processed into specialties for the Japanese
market (katsuobushi). Other grades may be released into regional and national markets, canned,
or turned into fishmeal. The major export market of the processors is Japan, with some fish
also going to America and Europe.
5.3.3 Role of government in fish market management
Government involvement in the fish market is minimal in terms of providing infrastructure,
imposing fees or influencing prices. Ice, where available, is provided by private enterprise.
The government Fisheries Agency (sub-district level) gathers market stall fees from fish brokers
and retailers in the Ambon area. However, management of the market flow is in the hands of
the fish brokers. They set prices and decide where and when fish are to be sold. The
government has, however, set up a cooperative (KUD Siwalima) for Ambon fishers and this
cooperative receives half of the Ambon market fees collected by the Fisheries Agency. The
cooperative in turn makes half of this money available to fishers for boat repairs and other
costs. Large traders are supposed to pay 10% of their profits as market taxes. Because of
evasive efforts by traders, the taxes actually gathered are in fact much less.
5.3.4 Marketing sasi products
The commercial products managed under the sasi system include pelagic lompa fish (Thryssa
baelama), top shells (Trochus niloticus), sea cucumbers (Holothuria and various other spp.) and
a variety of ornamental fish. The ornamental fish are collected by specialized fish brokers,
for direct export. Lompa fish and other pelagic varieties affected by sasi regulations are either
divided among community members for local consumption, as in Haruku, or enter the market
in the same way as other pelagic fish, via fish traders and retailers.
The village of Nolloth in Saparua provides one example of the sales route for top shells in
central Maluku. After the 1998 harvest conducted by the Nolloth cooperative (KUD), the
shells were sold to CV Naga Sakti Ambon and Toko Rinjani, two shell collectors based in the
city of Ambon. The price varied from Rp9,000-Rp19,000 per kg in 1998 according to the shell
quality. It had resale value in the Surabaya market of Rp24,000 per kg. Because top shells are
a protected species and are illegal to harvest, fishers have no direct access to more lucrative
international markets but must sell to the few Chinese-Indonesian traders who have licenses
to purchase “farmed” top shells (also see Zerner and Thorburn, forthcoming). Chinese-
Indonesian traders also handle the bulk of sea cucumber sales, directing the harvest into
international markets in Southeast Asia. Price depends on the species and, in 1997, ranged
up to Rp35,000 per kg for dried animals of the species called teripang durian.
5.4 Conclusions
The marine resources of central Maluku are very rich but not unlimited. After a period of
rapid increase in fishing pressure and catches, even the optimistic government resource
assessments now indicate a need for more cautious management because several key stocks
appear to be over-fished and harvest potential is declining. Small-scale and artisanal fishers
clearly recognize the trends of falling catches and the decline in marine environmental health.
Nevertheless, economic pressures mean that there is still a strong incentive for the further
expansion of fisheries.
56 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia