Resource Conditions Spermonde Archipelago: Barrang Caddi and Kapoposang Islands

Chapter 4 General Conditions of Study Sites

This chapter explains a short description of the small island communities, in the selected islands. It shows the very nature and situation where these communities live: their livelihoods, coastal fishery, origin and ethnic groups, as well as social infrastructure. Each aspect is to some extent, assessed and compared among five different study sites. Talking about five different islands as the selected research sites, one should not over look that these islands are eventually grouped into two different archipelagos. Rajuni Besar, Rajuni Kecil and Tarupa are part of Taka Bonerate atoll, while Kapoposang and Barrang Caddi are part of Spermonde archipelago. Each archipelago yet each island has their own geopolitical, geographical contexts as well as natural forces and socio-economic background, which influence the livelihoods and resource use on the coastal fishery.

4.1 Resource Conditions Spermonde Archipelago: Barrang Caddi and Kapoposang Islands

The area of Spermonde Archipelago is 400,000 hectares with maximum depth is 60 meter, and is divided by Hutchinson 1945 in Moka 1995 based on ecological zones: ƒ Zone 1 or Inner Zone is significantly influenced by the South Sulawesi mainland with bottom of the coastal is sandy-mud. ƒ Zone 2 or Middle Inner Zone has the distance around 5 km from Makassar coastline and has around 30 meter depth. This zone is characterized by are many small islands. It is where Barrang Caddi Island is located. ƒ Zone 3 or Middle Outer Zone has the distance around 12.5 km from Makassar coastline. The depth is around 30-50 meters and it has shallow area or coral reefs that locally called as taka. ƒ Zone 4 or Outer Zone is the zone of barrier reefs, whose distance is around 30 km from South Sulawesi mainland. Kapoposang is located in this zone. Coral reef condition around Kapoposang is good and has high biodiversity. It had been identified 224 species, 68 genus and 16 classes of coral reef Moka 1995; Suharsono 1996. Location and Accessibility Except of Barrang Caddi, accessibility to these islands is not easy Table 15. Taka Bonerate area provides no regular public transportation for passengers, except transportation for trading goods, in which people can join in these cargo ships. The area can be reached from the capital city of the Province, Makassar city, by joining the cargo ships, and it takes around 30 hours from Makassar to reach Rajuni Kecil. Another alternative is to reach the area from Selayar Island, where the District capital city – Benteng city – is located, by using fishermen or cargo ships, and takes around 5-6 hours to reach Rajuni Island. Nevertheless, Tarupa is located in the far east of Taka Bonerate from Benteng city and is more difficult to reach than that of Rajuni. However, Tarupa is the nearest island of Taka Bonerate reached from Southeast Sulawesi province, particularly Sinjai and Bone, the origins of the external traders and capital owners of destructive fishing. Kapoposang Island is situated at the outermost Western part of Spermonde archipelago. It is usually reached from the mainland cities of Makassar and Pangkajene. From Makassar, it takes around 4-6 hours by an inboard-engine boat of 1-5 tons 42 HPs, or around 1-2 hours by a speed boat of 200 HPs. The islanders or visitors have to take a ride in small fishing or trading boats which frequently transport fishes between Kapoposang and mainland cities. Another alternative is taking a ride in a speed boat utilized by the tourists between Makassar city and Kapoposang Coremap-Socioeconomic Team 2001. Table 15 Accessibility to the islands Rajuni Kecil Island Rajuni Besar Island Tarupa Island Kapoposang Island Barrang Caddi Island Accessibility to the island 4-6 hours from Benteng city; 30 hours from Makassar city. 4-6 hours from Makassar city. 1 hour from Makassar city. Transportation mode normally used by islanders Fishermen boats, cargo ships. Tourism resort’s speed boat, fish trader’s boat. Daily passenger boat.

4.2 Institutional Arrangements