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Fishing Farmers or Farming Fishers? Fishing Typology of Inland Small-Scale Fishing Households and Fisheries Management in Singkarak Lake, West Sumatra, Indonesia

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Abstract

Technical and socio-economic characteristics are known to determine different types of fishers and their livelihood strategies. Faced with declining fish and water resources, small-scale fisheries engage into transformations in livelihood and fishing practices. The paper is an attempt to understand these changes and their socio-economic patterns, in the case of Singkarak Lake in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Based upon the hypothesis that riparian communities have diverse, complex yet structured and dynamic livelihood systems, the paper’s main objective is to study, document and model the actual diversity in livelihood, practices and performance of inland small-scale fisheries along the Singkarak Lake, to picture how households are adapted to the situation, and propose an updated, workable model (typology) of those for policy. Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to develop a typology of fishing households. The results show that small-scale fishers can be classified into different types characterized by distinct livelihood strategies. Three household types are identified, namely “farming fishers” households (type I, 30 %), “fishing farmers” households (type II, 30 %), and “mainly fishers” households (type III, 40 %). There are significant differences among these groups in the number of boats owned, annual fishing income, agriculture income and farming experience. Type I consists of farming fishers, well equipped, with high fishing costs and income, yet with the lowest return on fishing assets. They are also landowners with farming income, showing the lowest return on land capital. Type II includes poor fishing farmers, landowners with higher farming income; they show the highest return on land asset. They have less fishing equipment, costs and income. Type III (mainly fishers) consists of poorer, younger fishers, with highest return on fishing assets and on fishing costs. They have little land, low farming income, and diversified livelihood sources. The nature of their livelihood strategies is discussed for each identified group. This helps to understand the complexity and diversity of small-scale fishers, particularly in the study area which is still poorly known. This paper concludes with policy implication and possible management initiatives for environmentally prudent policy aiming at improvement of fishers’ livelihood.

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Notes

  1. Nagari is the name of traditional village, pre-colonial political units of Minangkabau political organization (von Benda-Beckmann and von Benda-Beckmann 2001)

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from Ford Foundation - Jakarta office through the Andalas University, Indonesia and the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. The contribution of Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), and Asia Link Project are highly acknowledge for funding the fieldwork. We are also grateful to local residents of Singkarak Lake for their participation during fieldwork, anonymous reviewers for providing comments on the draft manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Khlong Luang, Pathumthani, 12120, Thailand

    Yuerlita

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, Andalas University, Limau Manis, Padang, West Sumatra, 25163, Indonesia

    Yuerlita

  3. UMR G-Eau, Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement, F-34398, Montpellier, France

    Sylvain Roger Perret

  4. Agricultural and Natural Resources Economics, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Khlong Luang, Pathumthani, Thailand

    Ganesh P. Shivakoti

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  1. Yuerlita
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Yuerlita, Perret, S.R. & Shivakoti, G.P. Fishing Farmers or Farming Fishers? Fishing Typology of Inland Small-Scale Fishing Households and Fisheries Management in Singkarak Lake, West Sumatra, Indonesia. Environmental Management 52, 85–98 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-013-0050-8

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