Social Impact of Industrialization Policies on Fishing Communities in the Outer Islands: Case of Natuna, Indonesia

In: Journal of Marine and Island Cultures, Band 10, Heft 1

Abstract

Natuna Island is one of the outer islands in Indonesia with under-development conditions due to its remote location. The government initiated to build fisheries industrialization and turning them into a growth center. So far, it is considered to only have affected their economic life. In fact, it also impacted the social life of their local community. However, differences in the characteristics of the people on small islands which are different from those on the main islands, may result in the destruction of endogenous social relations of the community by the industrialization process. This paper identifies the impact of exogenous development in the form of fisheries industrialization on the social life of the fisherman using the Social Impact Analysis (SIA) method. Sources of data were obtained from FGD with stakeholders, in-depth and semi-structured interviews, content analysis of related documents, as well as observations. From the study results, it is evident that there have been several negative impacts on fishing community due to fisheries industrialization. This impact results in the loss of social strength in the form of access to marine production bases. Local fishermen are driven out of their own sea areas, in the sense that their fishing grounds are used by other fishermen so that they have to change fishing locations. Second, there is no development of political power in the form of individual access to making decisions, voicing aspirations, and acting as a group because the established institution is only used as a formality to get assistance. Finally, fishermen's self-confidence has decreased because they continue to feel unsupported. The increasing number of new players in the sea area often adds to the fishermen's sense of inferiority. These changes seem to discourage the local community from supporting the implementation of the government development programs.