Reconciling poverty alleviation with reduction in fisheries capacity: boat aid in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

The tremendous loss of life and assets resulting from the 2004 tsunami dealt a devastating blow to the coastal communities of Aceh Province, Indonesia. An assessment of the fishing fleet structure pre- and posttsunami, including associated pattern in boat aid, in 15 coastal communities was conducted and compared with data on boat relief efforts over 17 districts of the Province. Aid was found to be not proportionally allocated to losses incurred by communities and was in many cases below what could be seen as a trend toward overcapacity. The distribution of aid appeared to be done without consideration of the former structure of the fleet, which changed significantly over time (pre- and post-tsunami), and resulted in a new fleet of reduced diversity with a strong focus on the smaller boat categories. If this situation perpetuates after the initial post-disaster period, it may further exacerbate the pre-existing economic and geographic marginalisation of some remote communities, and reduce the capacities of the fleets to diversify and develop multi-species harvesting strategies; thus, increasing the risk of ecologically unsustainable exploitation in near shore areas.