An institutional analysis of sasi laut in Maluku, Indonesia

auctioned to the tuan sasi. In some villages, a similar system has developed for harvest of
selected marine resources, either within or outside of the sasi institution.

Table 7.5. Number of land crops under sasi in each village where there is land sasi.

7.2.2 Marine sasi

What villagers call marine sasi covers a number of different types of marine management
arrangements. A full listing of rules documented can be seen in Appendix 7. The sasi rules
may or may not be written down and the kewang, usually responsible for monitoring and
enforcement, may be active or dormant. There are always rules restricting access to the village
territory. There may or may not be closed seasons or closed areas; however, 15 out of 17 cases
had a defined area that in theory could be closed to harvesting (Table 7.6). Almost all village
institutions had bans on destructive gear types. In most cases, this supported the national
ban on blast fishing and use of poisons. In several cases, other gears (lift nets, fine mesh nets,
certain fish traps destructive to corals) were also regulated. In none of the above cases of
community-controlled fishing areas was there any limit on total catch. Instead, sasi rules
controlled harvest intensity by regulating the number of persons having access to the village
territory and sasi area, the length of the harvest period, the size of individual fish or shellfish
that could be caught, and the gear type.

Different species are regulated in different villages. In many cases, sasi applies to only one or
two species (Table 7.7). The most common species managed under sasi are top shells (Trochus
niloticus), sea cucumbers and small pelagic fish (Table 7.8). On an average, a sasi village had
rules affecting four different groups of marine organisms (i.e., corals, mangroves, pelagic
fish, ornamental fish, reef (food) fish, holothurians or shellfish). Over half of the sasi villages
sold or auctioned harvesting rights for one or more species.

When there is an access restriction, and the time comes when sasi is declared open, the resources
may be harvested in a number of ways. The resource may be harvested by individual fishers

Table 7.6. Attributes of marine sasi in central Maluku.

72 An Institutional Analysis of Sasi Laut in Maluku, Indonesia

<<   <   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   >   >>