Aceh fishermen protest poaching by foreigners

Aceh fishermen protest poaching by foreigners

By Syaharuddin Hamzah

BANDA ACEH, Aceh (Antara): Local fishermen are seeing red as
they allege foreign vessels are bolder than ever in entering
Indonesian waters off West Aceh to plunder marine resources.

The ships are visible just a mile off shore as they cast large
trawls, use of which is forbidden by law, during the day.

Aceh's waters yield approximately 102,483 tons of fish
annually from 17,293 fishing ships.

That is the official figure but it does not include estimates
of the catch by illegal trawlers.

Local fishermen report spotting illegal foreign vessels almost
daily in the Teunom waters, Kuala Bubon, and around nearby
islands of Simeuleu, Banyak and South Aceh's Balai.

Chief of Aceh's traditional fishermen in Teunom, Syahrul
Husein, 42, said the audacity of the foreigners had upset the
locals.

"They not only exhaust the fishing resources from our waters
but also violate presidential decree No. 8/1980 forbidding the
use of trawling nets by fishermen," he said in Meulaboh, West
Aceh.

"The foreign ships have the latest communications technology
and are equipped with high-speed engines to evade police
capture."

Syahrul said there was usually a cat-and-mouse chase with the
coastal patrol teams.

"The foreign fishermen seem to know that what they are doing
is wrong and are always alert, so no foreign ship is ever caught
when patrol teams conduct inspections."

He explained that foreign ships usually fished in groups of
three and quickly dispersed when aware of a patrol.

The presence of local fishing boats near their ships did not
scare them off. He claimed they freely owned up to their
activities to the local seafarers.

Last month, Syahrul led a raid by hundreds of irate Teunom
fishermen upon the Taiwanese ship, KM. Hasuda-1205, which was
chartered by PT Samudra Bina Utama based in Jakarta.

They confiscated the ship's documents and handed the 14 crew
members and captain Wan Chi Hing, 39, to police.

Bomb

Chairman of the Indonesian Fishermen Association's Aceh
branch, Zainuddin Hamid, acknowledged that the West Aceh
coastline was one of the most vulnerable areas to poaching by
foreigners.

A couple of years ago, Teunom fishermen used homemade bombs to
attack a foreign fishing ship about 190 km west of Banda Aceh.
Several people were seriously injured.

Acehnese traditions permit local fishermen to capture foreign
fishermen entering Indonesian waters illegally, particularly
those using large trawls.

"The documents confiscated from KM Hasuda-1205 were given to
the authorities in West Aceh," Zainuddin said.

Local military commander Col. Mustafa Sacky Akbar, who visited
the site of the attack, told Teunom fishermen that they should
not have taken the law into their own hands.

He advised them to inform nearby security officers whenever
they suspected foreign ships were operating illegally in local
waters.

Zainuddin said there were 63,712 fishermen registered in Aceh
with 254,848 dependents. All of them were economically
disadvantaged and lived in distressing conditions.

They fish every day except Fridays.

"Aceh fishermen are trustworthy and disciplined," Zainuddin
said. "Even though laws do not state Friday as a day forbidden
for fishing, no Aceh fisherman will dare to fish on that day. It
is an understood and strictly followed rule."

The head of Aceh's fishery office, Kasbani Kasim, said the KM
Hasuda-1205, had a license from the Directorate General of
Fishery to fish in Indonesian waters.

It is one of the 25 ships operated by PT Samudra Bina Utama
that are licensed to fish in the exclusive economic zone.

Kasbani defended the local fishermen's actions.

"The act of the Teunom fishermen was a protest against the
violation of presidential decree No. 8/1980 forbidding the use of
trawls. Moreover, the trawls were used in traditional catching
areas of local fishermen," he said.

He said local fishermen were incensed by the sight of foreign
fishing ships and their crews, especially when their captains
could not speak Indonesian.

Kasbani advised all parties to respect the government's
regulations to prevent escalation of the tensions.