Fishermen Community in the Coastal Area: A Note from Indonesian Poor Family

Strengthening civil society values is required in a poor fishermen community so that the community becomes the central point of development process in the seashore and marine areas to uplift the living standard of fishermen so that traditional coastal resource management is remain valued and cared for. The results of this study found that kinship, mutual help, cooperation, mutual trust among the poor families become social capital to survive with their family members. Utilization of local institutions that grow and thrive in the life of rural communities has helped many poor households in order to survive. Therefore, it is suggested that the government should pay attention to local institutions by providing reinforcement to those institutions to be able to serve as a forum for the fishermen in the villages in order to empower them without having to bring in outside agencies because, in principle, institutions that grow and thrive in society have helped fishermen in rural life; and it is a social capital. The results of this study reveal that the survival strategy of rural poor fishermen by adopting a multiple income strategy that involve family members in economic activities like fishing, it is recommended to train and educate the members with good skills so that the business can be managed properly to increase their income. In addition, the capital assistance to the poor fishermen should be given without collateral requirement, so that they can manage their business well.