Informal governance through patron–client relationships and destructive fishing in Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia

Efforts to preserve fragile ecosystems that focus on removing human intervention from the environment risk ignoring the political and social systems underlying environmentally destructive economic activities. In contrast, a biocultural diversity perspective allows for environmental protection to be approached with sensitivity to human needs. This paper explores the case of Karanrang Island, Spermonde Archipelago, South Sulawesi, Indonesia, where fishing with toxins and bombs is proving detrimental to fish stocks and the surrounding coral reefs. Interviews with Karanrang fishers reveal that these destructive fishing practices are bound up with the region’s punggawa-sawi political and social system of patron–client relationships. The paper shows how the informal governance operating through these patron–client relationships traps fishers into destructive fishing practices. It is argued that environmental protection efforts should take into account political and social contexts.