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.