Fishermen sitting it out as price of fuel jacks up costs

Fadli, The Jakarta Post/Batam

A lot of folks' favorite fish, such as the selar and tongkol, are getting harder to find in Batam as hundreds of fishing boats that usually bring them in have curbed operations over the last couple of weeks due to soaring operational costs after a huge fuel price hike.

The source of the problem stemmed from the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 55/2005 on the procedures for the distribution of subsidized fuel, which states that fishing vessels of over 30 gross tons were required to buy diesel at the full, or industrial, price of Rp 6,460 (approximately 64 U.S. cents) per liter. The price of subsidized diesel is Rp 4,300 per liter.

Since the implementation of the regulation on Oct. 26, the fishing boats have remained moored at the Fish Landing and Gathering Center (UUPPI) in Punggur, Batam.

The fishermen expressed hope that they could buy diesel fuel from the state-oil company Pertamina at the subsidized price, including fishing boats of over 30 gross tons.

A member of the Mid-water Trawlers Association who is also the manager of the UUPPI, Wandy, told The Jakarta Post that 35 fishing boats had stopped operating since the prices went up.

Dozens of other fishing boats had also stopped sailing out to sea because the mobile fuel barges at sea were now selling fuel at the industrial price. There are approximately 100 fishing vessels that have stopped operating. "Ferry operators are given the privilege to buy fuel at the subsidized price," said Wandi.

Earlier, the ferry operators had to buy fuel at the unsubsidized price, but after they held a major strike last month, they were eventually given a dispensation by Pertamina to buy diesel at the subsidized price even though their vessels weigh more then 30 tons.

Most of the fishing boats anchored at the UUPPI are between 50 tons and 118 tons. They usually operate off of Natuna island and further out in the South China Sea, a distance of around 500 kilometers from Batam.

One of the idle crew members, Nasib, 27, said that it had been a month since they had gone out to sea because the boat owner had stopped operations. As a result, Nasib and his crewmates no longer receive their regular pay of Rp 200,000 per trip.

"I haven't paid rent on my house. I even have to ask for cigarettes from friends. We just sit around on the boat waiting for the order to go out to sea from our boss," said Nasib.

The operational costs for a single 10-day fishing trip amounts to over Rp 60 million for 10 tons of subsidized diesel, food and wages for 40 boat crew members.

However, since fishing boats were required to buy diesel at the industrial price, none of the boats had left the harbor. "Operational costs have increased two-fold. Not a single one of the boats has attempted to operate since the increase in fuel prices," said Wandi. Each fishing boat can haul in 70 tons of various kinds of fish. The fishing industry in Batam can account for 10,000 tons of seafood a month. Since the stoppage, Batam's seafood connoisseurs and exporters now have to depend on traditional fishermen, who bring in around 2,000 tons a month.

Meanwhile, Pertamina's spokesperson in Batam, Sri Sudarso, said that Pertamina had implemented the policy in line with the President's decree, and that his office was only carrying out government orders.