Green market for small people: Markets and opportunities for upgrading in small-scale fisheries in Indonesia

Abstract

This article examines responses of small-scale fishers and traders to a proposed fisheries management initiative in Indonesia. The responses of these local actors demonstrate both opportunities for upgrading in the fisheries value chain and challenges for more sustainable fisheries management. Small-scale fisheries are the least regulated natural resource sector in Indonesia, but recent initiatives attempt to address problems of over-fishing, poverty and livelihood insecurity. This article examines one such initiative, the Lesser Sunda Sustainable Fisheries Initiative (LSSFI), and attitudes towards it held by local fishers. The LSSFI combines market incentives and support with a Territorial Use Rights in Fisheries (TURF) system and reserve. Fishers generally viewed market-based incentives positively, seeing them as enhancing their livelihoods and freeing them from debt-based patronage relationships. In contrast, fishers had mixed responses to the TURF-reserve proposal. Those who were less mobile agreed to the TURF-reserve, while those who fish distant coastal waters as well as adjacent areas were opposed. An additional barrier to the acceptance of TURF-reserves is that most small-scale fisheries in Indonesia exist as an open access resource and confidence in the ability of the government to enforce reserve areas is low.