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While this program, should it succeed, will benefit middle income boat owners, it does not seem to respond to the needs of boatless fishermen. Undoubtably this is the hardest group to assist, but the most needy.

Net making is a major activity for many buruh nelayan and it might be possible to assist them in organizing and developing less costly credit sources and more efficient techniques for manufacturing nets and marketing them.

Environmental Change:

It is reported that the prawn/shrimp catch has declined in recent years, particularly since the introduction of motors in 1980. The price has also fallen since that time, it is possible the natural fishery is over exploited, since the fishing ground is limited to the shallow coastlines to a depth of 15 dopak (25m). The coastline near Desa Cemarajaya and Sungai Buntu has changed markedly over the last fifty years. Old people claim the coast once extended well beyond its present locations with houses and large trees where there is now ocean. The course of the river has also shifted from one side of the village to the other in Sungai Buntu.

Conclusions:

One key to the success of community development efforts in the Sungai Buntu area will be a better understanding of current economic activities, and means of removing constraints to increased productivity and income generation. The obvious target group should be those families with few material resources (i.e. boats or land). This includes the laborers in the village whether they be burub nelayan or buruh pindang. Low income women whose average hourly wage is probably lowest overall, need immediate attention. Many young girls, discouraged by the low wages available from fish processing work, have become prostitutes to serve fishermen from other villages along the coast who spend the night at Sungai Buntu. Veneral disease is reportedly endemic and many women can not afford the cost of treatment and transportation to the nearest health clinic (PUSKESMAS) in Pedes.

Many children are involved in the fishing industry. Girls tend to work as fish cleaners while boys clean perahus and help outfit boats for fishing trips. As a result the primary school drop-out rate is high with only 32 children graduating over the past two years from a school of 750 students.

Cooperatives for low income women fish processors and traders could provide them with low interest credit and break their dependence on local middlemen. New techniques and equipment could be introduced through the coops to increase productivity. Yet, and appropriate cooperative can not be developed without understanding contextual details, needs, constraints, and local resources.