Fishermen complain of drop in fish prices

Fishermen complain of drop in fish prices

INDRAMAYU, West Java: Thousands of fishermen in West Java's
north coast regencies of Indramayu and Subang have complained
about plummeting fish prices, at a time when their catch is
bountiful.

Leaders of the local village cooperative (KUD) attributed the
slump to the abundant catch, as some 30,000 people in Indramayu
and 20,000 others in Subang were engaged in fishing.

Engkos, who chairs the KUD Mina Muara in Ciasem subdistrict,
Subang, said on Tuesday the prices of different fish dropped by
as much as 50 percent as the catch kept swelling.

He also blamed brokers who bought fish from fishermen at very
low prices.

According to Engkos, the fishermen had no choice but to sell
their catch cheaply because they had to repay debts they owed to
the brokers.

He said the KUD was now striving to jack up the price by
appealing to fishermen to sell their fish to cooperatives instead
of brokers.

The protesting fishermen also urged the government to help
increase the price of fish so they would be able to make a
living.--JP