East Kalimantan fishermen losing technoloty battle

East Kalimantan fishermen losing technoloty battle

Rusman, The Jakarta Post/Nunukan

Although independence was proclaimed 60 years ago, many people do
not enjoy total freedom, including fishermen in the bordering
areas of northern East Kalimantan and the Malaysian state of
Sarawak.

They have always lived in isolation, and are unable take full
advantage of the riches of the sea because foreign fishermen
often encroach into Indonesian waters to poach fish.

"The foreign fishermen use far more modern equipment, such as
trawlers, so that they can catch more fish. Ironically, the
foreign fishermen can enter our waters unimpeded," said Suyatman,
a fisherman from Nunukan, East Kalimantan.

Due to the poaching by the foreign fishermen, Indonesian
fishermen's catches are invariably small. "We can only earn Rp 2
million (US$950) now, compared to Rp 9 million a few years ago
when not many foreign fishermen fished in Indonesian waters.
Sometimes we can't catch any fish at all," said Suyatman.

He complained that life was getting tougher by the day as he
had to spend Rp 150,000 on fuel for a single trip out to sea,
while catches were dwindling.

"We won't be able to enjoy any returns soon if the foreign
trawlers are not restricted and arrested," said Suyatman.

The presence of trawlers has always been a problem for small-
time fishermen in areas bordering Sarawak.

In 2002, hundreds of small-scale fishermen set a foreign
trawler on fire after it entered Indonesian waters, after which
they turned themselves into the police.

Clashes with foreign fishermen are commonplace. Claims have
been made that foreign fishermen ram their boats into local
fishermen's boats.

"Local fishermen stay in Indonesian waters, but would rather
avoid the larger and more sophisticated foreign vessels, which
every so often ram into locals' boats and sometimes even shoot at
them," said Hasan Basri, a fisherman from Sebatik island,
Nunukan, East Kalimantan.

Head of the East Kalimantan Marine and Fisheries Office,
Khaerani Saleh, acknowledged the rampant poaching in Indonesian
waters by trawlers from Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and
China.