Bantul fishermen work to hand in hand to preserve turtles

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Bantul

With little fuss, fishermen on southern Bantul coast in Yogyakarta have turned conservationists, helping local officials to protect the endangered turtles in their area.

Grouped in the South Coast Turtle Conservation Forum, the fishermen work together to preserve the species, freeing turtles from fishing nets and ferrying wounded turtles to the forum offices to be treated and later returned to the ocean.

The fishermen also secure turtle eggs found along the beach before they transfer them to incubators to hatch. After nurturing for a few months, the hatchlings are then released to the sea.

Forum chairman Rudjito said the idea to set up the group came in 2000 when lecturers and students of Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University were conducting a study at Samas beach.

At that time, lecturers told fishermen of the importance of turtles to the equilibrium of the marine ecosystem. One of the turtles' important foods, red algae, is a threat to the fish population when not constrained. An excess of red algae can decimate fish hatchlings, resulting in dwindling marine populations.

"When I was small, many turtles could be found along the beach and catching fish was easy and plentiful. But now, it's hard to get fish and turtles are hard to find. As we rely on fish for our livelihood, we started contemplating it and finally set up the forum," Rudjito said.

After listening to the lectures, fishermen along the southern coast, especially those in Samas beach, no longer catch turtles. If turtles were caught in nets, they are freed immediately.

The forum officially set up in 2001 and based in Samas beach, now has two other branch offices in Parangtritis and Pandansimo beaches, with membership of about 50 fishermen.

This awareness has prompted the local Natural Resources Conservation Center (BKSDA) in Bantul regency to provide cash assistance of Rp 4.5 million (US$450) to the fishermen.

The forum also collected fees from members to build three tanks -- measuring two-by-four meters on a 300-square meter plot of land, costing a total of Rp 78 million -- to hatch the eggs.

In the early years of the center, the incubator tanks often failed to hatch the eggs, much to the fishermen's disappointment.

Refusing to give up, Rudjito and his friends kept on learning. They searched for books on turtle breeding and visited biologists at the BKSDA and higher learning institutes to master turtle breeding techniques.

Following a year of trial and error, results began to show. In May 2002, they succeeded in hatching 98 of 102 turtle eggs. After nurturing them for two months, one by one, strong hatchlings were released into the sea to procreate and balance the ecosystem. They group has now successfully hatched thousands of turtle eggs.

Money is also collected by the group from members of the public who wish to release the turtles into the ocean.

"We will keep some of the money in the coffers to compensate fishermen who hand over trapped turtles. The money is also used to buy turtle eggs brought to us by residents," said Mugari, one of the forum's members.