Branta benefits fishermen in Pelabuhan Ratu

PELABUHAN RATU, West Java: As the waves rush eagerly to Pelabuhan Ratu's pebbled shore, so the fishermen hasten to the town's fish auction center with their catches.

The waiting fish traders from many different parts of West Java province welcome them as they reach the suddenly teeming center.

"Being the largest fish market in West Java, Pelabuhan Ratu in Sukabumi district supplies fresh fish to many different parts of the province, as well as Jakarta," Nursobah, chairman of the Sukabumi branch of the Indonesian Fishermen Association, said over the weekend.

Nursobah, who is also vice chairman of Sukabumi's only fishermen's cooperative, Mina Mandiri Sinar Laut, explained that daily sales of up to 150 tons of fish at Pelabuhan Ratu can reach a value of more than Rp 500 million (US$220,000).

He said over 8,000 fishermen are registered in Sukabumi district, with 6,000 living in Pelabuhan Ratu, 1,500 in Cisolok, 10 kilometers west of Pelabuhan Ratu, and the rest in other coastal areas in the district.

Most of the fishermen use motorized vessels equipped with herring drift nets, or traditional nets called payang. Others collect fish with bagan, which are fishing platforms with ring nets cast in a circle, or they use row boats with rawai fishing lines, each of which carries over 50 hooks.

Sunifta, owner of U.D. Mekar Jaya, which makes the payang, said during peak fishing season that one payang boat, with 20 to 25 men on board, can bring in up to six tons of fish in a single night, or day.

"However, it seems to me that the number of fish has been decreasing these last two years, maybe because the sea currents, which bring fish, have not come here yet," Sunifta said. "So, many payang owners, especially those from outside this area, have run out of money and sold their nets."

The payang is a traditional net originating from Pelabuhan Ratu. It is like a trawling net and consists of four parts: a pocket, a tongue and two wings. These parts are combined together in such a way that the pocket is connected with the tongue and the two wings are placed at both ends of the tongue to make a V- shape payang of about 300 meters long.

Payang making is a home industry. Payang owners usually employ dozens of fishermen and their wives to tie new payang or repair damaged ones. If not, owners will order a new payang from people who specialize in producing, or repairing that type of net.

Thanks to Branta

Sunifta said he supplies most of the net threads and coloring chemicals for payang making in the Pelabuhan Ratu and Cisolok areas. He gets all the materials from PT Branta Mulia, a tire cord manufacturer in Citeureup, Bogor, West Java.

Branta Mulia, which functions as a "foster father" for Mekar Jaya in line with a government program, supplies threads and chemicals at discounted prices. These inexpensive by-products of Branta's make the price of each payang Rp 2 million Rp 2.5 million less than one would usually cost.

"We thank Branta, who has helped us in preserving our payang," Nursobah said. "Although Branta is Mekar Jaya's 'foster father', the fishermen benefit from the relationship as well."

This kind of partnership between large and small companies was introduced by the government in the early 1980s, when a few state-owned and large private enterprises became "foster fathers" to a number of small and medium companies.

Johannes Mung Harjono, a member of Branta Mulia's board of directors, said his company adopted Mekar Jaya in 1991 because "we have linkage".

"At the end of the 1980s, the government offered us 40 small and medium enterprises, to be adopted as our foster children, and we selected four of them, including Mekar Jaya," Mung said.

He added that Branta not only provides raw materials for Mekar Jaya, but also technical assistance in developing the quality of its products.

"For instance, coloring chemicals. We get them from our wastes. After several tests, we developed the waste in such a way that it could be used for the black coloring necessary for the payang. The quality is better than traditional coloring materials," Mung said.

Before the introduction of coloring chemicals from Branta Mulia, traditional fishermen in Pelabuhan Ratu and Cisolok used the bark of the local manjel (Medililla Radicans) trees to color their payang nets. The fishermen required 15 tons of manjel bark per month, the equivalent of approximately 500 manjel trees.

"Now we can hardly find manjel trees around here. I can say that the entrance of Branta Mulia into this area has also helped preserve our rare manjel trees," Nursobah, who is also head of Kahuripan village in Cisolok subdistrict, said.