MARGINALIZATION OF FISHERMEN FROM UTILIZING COASTAL AREA  
AFTER RECLAMATION AT SERANGAN SUBDISTRICT, DENPASAR, BALI 

 
Nyoman Suryawan 

Faculty of Education of Social Sciences 
Saraswati Teachers’ Training College 

email: suryawannyoman@rocketmail.com  
 
 

ABSTRACT 
 Geographically, Serangan Subdistrict, South Denpasar District, Bali Province, used to be 
separated from the Bali’s mainland. However, now it is not isolated any longer after a bridge 
was constructed and reclamation was conducted by the Bali Turtle Island (abbreviated to BTID) 
in 1996. At that time 379 hectares of the coastal areas were victimized. The investor’s existence 
and the other businesses utilizing the coastal areas as their operating areas physically changed 
them, which were entirely coastal. It was this which was directly and indirectly responsible for 
marginalizing the fishermen. In relation to that, how the fishermen at Serangan subdistrict were 
marginalized from utilizing the coastal areas after being reclaimed was the focus of the present 
study. Qualitative method and the approach of cultural studies were used in the present study. 
The data were collected through observation, in-depth interview, and documentary study. The 
data were descriptively, qualitatively and interpretatively analyzed.  
 To sum up, the present study showed that there were several forms of marginalization 
undergone by the fishermen at Serangan Subdistrict after reclamation; they were marginalized 
from utilizing the coastal environment; economic difficulty resulting from the fact that the sources 
of fish were getting scarce causing their income to go down; and their powerlessness in 
overcoming the problem they encountered to improve their standard of living. 
 
Keywords: marginalization, fishermen, utilization of the coastal areas, after reclamation. 
 

INTRODUCTION  

 The globalization era which is triggered by the progress in science and technology has 

caused cultures to spread from one country to another rapidly. Appadurai (in Ritzer and 

Goodman, 2011: 598) state that globalization is characterized by ethnoscape, technoscape, 

mediascape, finanscape, and ideoscape.  

 Bali, as one of the international tourist destinations, cannot be avoided from 

globalization. As a result, Bali has transformed from the agriculture-based primary economic 

culture to services-oriented tertiary economic culture especially tourism (Pitana, 1994: 96). The 

glorification of the culture of money as the impact of global capitalism can be observed from the 

comodification taking place in every aspect of life, including the utilization of coastal areas for 

various interests.  

 The existence of Serangan subdistrict, which used to be separated from the mainland of 

Bali, is not isolated any longer after it was reclaimed and after the bridge which connects the 

two islands was constructed by PT Bali Turtle Island Development (BTID). The reclamation, 

mailto:suryawannyoman@rocketmail.com


which was intended to develop tourist area, has caused Serangan Island to be four times wider 

than before; it used to be 112 hectares wide but now it is 450 hectares wide (Suparta, 1998: 

163). The existence of BTID, as the investor, has caused the physical condition of Serangan 

Subdistrict, which used to be entirely coastal, to change. As a comparison, it can be stated that 

before it was reclaimed the fishermen totaled 1017 (BPS, 1990). Now they only total 94 and 

spread in several groups of fishermen named Cipta Mana Karya and Karya Segera. The 

reclamation has also been responsible for the decrease in the amount of the coastal area by 

379 hectares which has supported their livelihood (Bali Post, 9 September 2012: p. 1, column 

4). The decrease in the sources of fish in the coastal area resulting from the reclamation has 

caused the fishermen to be marginalized.  

 Based on the background described above, the problem in the present study is how the 

marginalization of the fishermen after the reclamation was like. The present study was intended 

to understand in depth the marginalization of the fishermen after the coastal area of Serangan 

Subdistrict was utilized for different interests. It was expected that the result of the present study 

would widen the scientific insight into the community of fishermen from the perspective cultural 

studies. It was also expected that the present study would give critical understanding of the 

phenomenon related to the functional shift of the coastal area to the public.  

 

RESEARCH METHOD 

 This present study was aimed at giving understanding of why the fishermen were 

marginalized. The study was conducted at Serangan Subdistrict, South Denpasar District, 

Denpasar City, Bali. The reason why the study was conducted here was that many fishermen 

had changed their profession. They were marginalized from utilizing the coastal area; in 

addition, there was a high mobility of people who intended to utilize the coastal area for various 

interests. 

 The informants were purposively determined, meaning that the subject of the study was 

selected based on particular requirements. One of the requirements was that the selected 

informants should be knowledgeable of and experienced in the things related to the title of the 

study (Zuriah, 2005: 124). The main instrument in the present study was the researcher himself 

equipped with a guide of interview. In addition, a digital camera, a tape recorder, and some 

writing equipment were also used. The data were collected through observation, in-depth 

interview and documentary study. The in-depth interview was held by questioning and 

answering between the interviewer and the informants with or without interview guide (Bungin, 



2010: 108). The documentary study was used to obtain the secondary data by tracing various 

types of information from journals, magazines, books, internets, and other sources.  

 The data were analyzed by systematically composing various results of observations, 

interviews and documents. The data were descriptively and qualitatively analyzed while the 

study was being conducted through the following steps; the data were reduced, presented, and 

interpreted and then conclusions were drawn. 

 

RESULT AND DISCUSSION 

 The developmental process which was only intended to acquire economic growth and 

which was anthropocentrically oriented was responsible for any environmental damage. The 

anthropocentric opinion that human beings might exploit environment as they liked contributed 

to such a condition (Keraf, 2002: 33).  

 The fact that there were particular parties which intended to utilize the coastal area for 

the interests which were not in accordance with what it should have been used for caused the 

environment to be degraded and the fishermen to be marginalized from their activities. The area 

of the mangrove forest decreased and the fishermen found it difficult to earn their living from the 

coastal area. It was difficult for the fishermen to find places where they could anchor their 

canoes as such places were also used by the other parties for the businesses they ran such as 

the cultivation of fish using floating ‘karamba’, water sports, dolphin show, and other activities. 

The places where the fishermen usually anchored their canoes were also used as the places 

where other types of sea transport were anchored.  

 After the reclamation various businesses were run, making Serangan not only a tourist 

destination for domestic tourists but also for foreign tourists. This caused the fishermen to be 

getting marginalized. In relation to that, Bourdieu (in Harker, 2009: 13) stated that a competition 

in capital among individuals and groups who utilized the coastal area caused the community of 

fishermen to be marginalized. The fishermen, with the habitus they had and the life experience 

inherited from generation to generation, had a clear concept that the beach was theirs. With 

respect to the economic, social and capital capitals they had, they were extremely poor as could 

be observed from the fish catching equipment and the means of transport they used. From the 

point of view of human resources, most of them graduated from elementary school; further, 

some never went to school. As a consequence, the social network with a wider access to any 

political or governmental institution was extremely limited.  

 They were different from the investors who already had sufficient sources of capital for 

fighting for the natural resources available at Serangan Subdistrict. Their way of thinking was 



different from the fishermen’s way of thinking as to how to treat the beach. According to the 

investors, the beach had a promising economic potential which could be developed as a tourist 

attraction. The powerlessness in the competition caused the coastal community which was 

dominated by the fishermen to be getting more marginalized. 

 Historically, the BTID, as the investor, entered Serangan in 1996 with its reclamation 

project. The project tended to physically change what Serangan looked like; as a result, it also 

affected the coastal community especially the fishermen. The reclamation, which was done by 

scraping and burying the coastal area caused many parts of the mangrove forest and the ridge 

of rock exposed at low ride ‘terumbu karang’ to get extinct, which, in fact, played important roles 

as the sources of fish for the community of fishermen. As a consequence, the sources of their 

income declined as it was getting more difficult to catch fish to support their livelihood 

(Suryawan, 2013: 118). In relation to that, the fishermen were forced to sail across the ocean to 

catch fish as fish was getting scarce in the coastal area.  

 Bourdieu (in Fashri, 2007: 27) stated that capital played an important role in determining 

the social position of any community. The capital might be economic, social, cultural and 

symbolic. Such types of capital could be exchanged for one another; as a result, those who had 

more types of capital would be dominant in the community. According to Satria (2009: 340), 

such a condition would be in accordance with the materialism which described that a community 

was made up of the components of infrastructure and suprastructure. As far as the domain of 

fishermen is concerned, infrastructure refers to the ownership of production tools, and 

suprastructure refers to the socio-political aspect. Then such infrastructure will affect or 

determine the existing suprastructure; however, the vice versa does not work. This means that 

the only economic strength which will determine the social life of a community. 

 The life of the community of fishermen at Serangan Subdistrict was still far from what 

was expected, especially if viewed from the limited economic, social and cultural capitals they 

had. Such a limitation did not allow them to compete against the other parties which had bigger 

capitals. Such a condition affected the groups of the fishermen as could be observed from their 

powerlessness in overcoming the difficulties their members had. They were highly dependent 

on the other parties that gave them assistance in the forms of facilities and so forth. Such 

dependence could inflict them, as the assistance given by the other parties was intended to 

dominate the fishermen. 

 

 

 



CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION 

 The marginalization the fishermen at Serangan Subdistrict faced related to the utilization 

of the coastal area after the reclamation included the marginalization in the utilization of the 

coastal environment, the economic difficulty as the sources of fish were getting scarce, and their 

powerlessness in overcoming the difficulties they underwent.  

 As a phenomenon, it is suggested that the practices applied by the parties that utilized 

the coastal area which could inflict the community of fishermen should be further explored. In 

addition, it was expected that the result of the present study could motivate the fishermen to 

behave critically towards any decision which will utilize the coastal area so that it will not inflict 

themselves and environment.  

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT  

 The present study could be completed due to the support provided by numerous parties. 

In relation to that, the writer would like to thank Prof. Dr. I Wayan Ardika, M.A. for his motivation 

and direction, Prof. Dr. I Gde Parimartha, M.A. for his correction, and Dr. Putu Sukardja, M.Si. 

for the valuable input provided to the writer.  

 

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