Piles of litter on the beach polluting the sea have become one of the global problems at this time.
Indonesia is an archipelago country whose coastline is inhabited by tribes who have been living as
fishermen for hundreds of years. Therefore, it is important to understand what the cultural perception of
the fishing community is regarding the litter problem. This study aimed to figure out the perception of the
fishing community in Madurese culture regarding the litter on the beach. By adhering to the
phenomenological paradigm, the researchers chose four fishing families in Madura, conducted semistructured interviews and observations, as well as analyzed the data. We conducted Creswell and Poth’s
qualitative data analysis spiral. The found that the Madurese fishing community perceives coastal litter as
(a) a physical problem, (b) a human-God relational problem, and (c) an individual-government relational
problem. In short, the community's perceptions of the litter on the beach are related to their beliefs about
the position of humans, nature, and God.