The Local Wisdom of Boat People Fishermen is Trapped in the Economic Net of Capitalism in Indragiri Hilir Regency of Riau Province

Abstract

The marine and fisheries resource ecosystem which is a habitat for the life of the Boat Peoples Fishermen community, starting from the marine resources and the results, the potential of the coast, coast, river and land has experienced a decline of environmental degradation due to policies, plans and development programs introduced by the government tend to be oriented profit and economic interests without applying the principles of sustainable development. This problem is very real in Indragiri Hilir Regency, Riau Province, where the central and regional governments provide the broadest possible investment and business opportunities to large-scale groups or economic classes to exploit available resources, such as for the people's coconut processing industry, upstream coconut oil industry, the mangrove charcoal industry, the development of oil palm plantations, oil, mining, agriculture and forestry as well as various other development interests without considering the existence and welfare of the tribal sea fishermen who are indigenous and depend their lives on fishery resources. From the era of the new order regime to the current post-reform and autonomy order, the government has done a lot to foster the Remote Indigenous Communities (KAT) of the Sea Tribe in order to improve their living standards. However, tribal fishermen still find it difficult to escape poverty and are loyal to prioritize safety (safety-first) in a patron-client relationship with the skipper (Tauke). Lately, the hue of the life of Sea Tribe fishermen is increasingly blurred because they are trapped in a net of capitalist economic class structures that tend to prey on and exploit the weak class so that traditional rights and local wisdom values of Sea Tribe fishermen are increasingly difficult to develop in the arena of environmental degradation. The tradition of looking for seashells and floating on the sea to catch fish, crabs and bleaches is increasingly difficult, local knowledge of nature is developed to become a teacher (wind season, tohor, cloud signs, seagulls, seawater-resistant wood species) and traditional medical skills (thinning) pregnancy with mangrove trees, traditional herbal medicine, recipes and traditional foods) are fading, diving expertise, the ability to make traditional eco-friendly fishing gear (pento, fishing rod, traps, nets, barrels, togok and sampan) increasingly rare, the tradition of semahsemara and others, were gradually marginalized and lost to the economic wave of modern capitalism.

 Keywords: boat people fishermen, local wisdom and capitalism.