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.