Bantul fishermen work to hand in hand to preserve turtles

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.