Fishing Household Economy in Rural Indonesia: A Case of Kematiga Fishing Village, North Sulawesi

Abstract

A study of fishing household economy in rural Indonesia with particular reference to Kematiga, North Sulawesi was performed. The economy of the village is mainly supported by fisheries. The dominant marine fishing gear are angling, gill netting, and purse seine fisheries. In order to analyze the economics of fishing households, they were divided into four classes: a) fishing laborers’ households (FLH); b) angling fishing operators’ households (angling FOH); c) gill netting FOH; and d) purse seine fishing Fan.
The capital formation by the FOH was made through self-made, savings, and loans. In fisheries investment, which reflects the scale of each fishing activity, angling fishery had the lowest amount, gill netting was in the middle, and the purse seine fishery was significantly higher. With regards to income and expenditure, the amounts for the FOH were significantly higher than those for the FLH. Among FOH, those of purse seine fishery were definitely greater than those of gill netting and angling. However, the FLH’s expenditures often exceeded their incomes. As a result, they usually had to borrow money from FOH, or receive gifts from the richer families based on the traditional mutual aid system in the village.