Poverty and Empowerment of the Sustainable Fisherman Community (Critical Ethnographic Study in the Province of Gorontalo)

Abstract

Indonesia has economics sectors that based on the natural resource like marine and fishery, agriculture, forestry, mineral, and biotechnology industry. However, the natural resource has not been used optimally to develop the economics of the nation for the prosperity of the people. The potential fishery resource has not been able to make the fishery sector becomes the prime factor of economy and it is a nation resource of income from the non oil and gas. The empowerment programs of poor people where the provinces that have enough potential fish resource but the people are still in poor condition such as in the province of Papua, West Papua, East Nusa Tenggara, Maluku and the Province of Gorontalo (Statistical Centre Board, 2014). Special for the Province of Gorontalo , it has coast line of  590 km that is divided into north coast 320 km and south coast of 270 km with the sea width of 50.500 km² (The Fishery and Marine Department of the Province of Gorontalo, 2002). The Sea of the Gorontalo Province is divided into two parts, Sulawesi Sea in the northern part and Tomini Bay in the Southern. The Province of Gorontalo has a relatively high poverty number of 17,4%. Therefore, the fishermen in Gorontalo need to be empowered since all this time they just become the tool of the fishery businessmen to get high profit or revenue., while the fishermen themselves are powerless because they do not have capital to own their armada. Besides, the dependence of the fisherman labors to their master or a boss that is called patron-client creates the income gap.

Keywords: Ethnography, Poverty, Empowerment, Province of Gorontalo