Fishermen take their chances one day at a time

Fishermen take their chances one day at a time

Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Pangandaran, West Java

Miad Sayuti slowly opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of
his home, little more than a hut with bamboo walls and a plain
cement floor.

The 41-year-old fisherman was about to go to sea with his
brother Makmun and another friend to hoist the net they had set
two days before at coral reefs near the island of Nusakambangan.
There had been big waves last week, and hopefully lobsters would
be caught in the nets.

"The fish is so limited nowadays," said Miad. "We have to wait
for the dry season, when the white pomfret breed." The deep sea
fish sell for Rp 60,000 (US$6.40) per kilogram.

At 3:30 a.m., Miad left the hut on his daughter's bicycle. His
becak (pedicab) had a flat tire after he took a tourist around
the day before. Driving a becak is his part-time job to make ends
meet in between fishing.

Ten minutes later he was at the beach. The eight-meter-long
and 1.1-meter wide boat, Mees, owned by a Dutch friend of Makmun,
stood ready for them.

Darkness still enveloped the stretch of sand and the thousands
of stars provided little light. Boat pushers appeared in shadows
from between the dozens of boats, announced only by the final
crackle of the burned cigarettes ends they held. They pushed the
boat to the sea, and Miad quickly started the machine.

The boat moved swiftly to the middle of the ocean.

"It's a good thing the sky's clear, otherwise I won't be able
to see the landmarks," said Miad. The only modern part of the
boat are the machine and Miad's black plastic watch. His vision
was his only guide.

Two hours later, the fishermen saw the flags marking the reef
where the 15 sets of 70 meter by 3.5 meter string nets lay.

Two of them would pull the net out while the other sorted
through the catch. They heaved as hard as they could, and out of
the net tumbled several rocks, some as big as human heads.

"Well, if it doesn't get stuck, this is not a lobster hunt,"
said Miad.

A putrid odor arose as dead fish, pieces of reef, sponge, and
small reef crabs were thrown back into the sea. On and on they
went, pausing midway only to eat the rice cake that their wives
had prepared for them.

After three long hours, the job was done. They had caught 20
small lobsters, two pearl prawns, six green prawns, two bamboo
prawns and four kilograms of red crabs.

There were also two shrimps, as big as a thumb. Miad grabbed
one, snatched off the head, and ate it raw. The sweet taste took
him back to the time when he was lost at sea.

"One of my boat's two spark plugs went dead and the current
steered us to the middle of the sea," said Miad. "There was
nothing we could do but surrender to fate."

For two days and nights they drifted, kept alive by the water
they had brought with them and raw squid and shrimps.

"I cried when I remembered my daughter. She was my only child
at that time... she was seven," said Miad, staring at his hands,
calloused from the cuts of the nets from 10 years at sea.

When he was found, he received a new nickname: Buang, or
castaway. Five boats and a bigger boat from the Mina Sari
fisherman cooperative, where he is a member, had been sent to
look for him.

The cooperative serves its members using the 10 percent cut it
receives from each sale at auction. The money is also kept for
compensation in the event of a member's death, small loans to
help the fishermen out during low-catch periods and monitoring
illegal fishermen.

"We're not going to the auction today, it costs too much for
such a small catch," said Miad.

Independent buyers were already waiting for them when they
reach the beach at noon.

The lobsters, weighing 2.7 kilograms in total, were sold at Rp
310,000 while the crabs earned Miad and friends Rp 52,000. They
received some more money for the prawns, but, minus the gasoline
for the boat and tips for the boat pushers, the trip brought in
only Rp 300,000.

Sixty percent goes to the boat owner, with the rest to be
split equally among them. "I got Rp 40,000, not bad at a time
when fish is so scarce," said Miad.

If a fisherman has complete sets of different kinds of nets
and equipment needed to catch big fish, deep sea fish, surface
fish, squid, prawns and lobsters that emerge at different times
during the day, there is actually no scarce period for them.

"A complete set and boat will cost up to Rp 50 million," said
Miad.

When fish is abundant, such as in the monsoon season after a
long dry season, one trip can bring hundreds of kilograms of fish
-- and a hefty profit.

"When the monetary crisis hit, we were very happy because the
price of fish skyrocketed," said Miad. "But fishermen, we always
live for today."

All he has to show from that exceptional period is the boat, a
15 horsepower engine and string nets to catch pomfret fish.

"Fishermen spend their money on two things: drinking and
women," said Miad. "When you've been at sea for more than three
days, any woman will look beautiful," he added with a big grin.

But he also knows he must save as much as he can.

"I will have to retire when I'm 50. I wouldn't be able to
stand the cold and hard work," he said.

"What I want is to have a food stall on the beach."

At home, Miad changed his clothes, ate a simple lunch and then
sat on his bench to fix his nets. They will have to be ready when
the fish are out again.