Fishing community unfazed by crisis

By Agus Maryono

CILACAP, Central Java (JP): The economic crisis has sent many businesses and industrial plants into bankruptcy, but traditional fishermen in Cilacap, Central Java, seem to have been spared.

These offshore fishermen say their profits have increased many fold because the higher exchange rate of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar has made their catches higher in price as well.

"The price of fish follows the value of the U.S. dollar, so there's practically no monetary crisis for us," Sugiyo, 25, a fisherman in the Group of Fishermen in Pandanaran, Cilacap, said at Teluk Penyu beach, Cilacap.

Arwin, 40, a fisherman in the same group, concurred. "In short, we have been spared the crisis. If the value of the rupiah rises against the dollar, we also earn more," said Arwin, who claims to have been fishing in Cilacap waters for 15 years.

Arwin and Sugiyo say the weather and the climate are the main challenges to fishermen. "Besides lurking dangers, the weather also affects our haul," said Arwin.

The time most feared by fishermen is usually February and March, which is the transition between seasons. "During this period there are usually huge waves and strong winds, followed by roaring thunder and bright flashes of lightning. This is a difficult time for fishermen because even the fish are difficult to find. We've never learned why," said Samidi, 42, also a Cilacap fisherman.

According to Arwin, last September and October was a happy period for local fishermen because their catches were abundant.

"In those two months we fishermen really had prime catches," said Samidi. He added that abundant catches usually continue through to December and even January the following year.

The lives of Samidi, Arwin and Sugiyo and some 20,000 fishermen in Cilacap depend on saltwater fish. They spend a great deal of time at sea.

"We usually go to sea at 3 a.m. and return at 3 p.m. If the fish abound, we go to sleep right after returning from fishing, and at 3 a.m. the next day we go out to sea again," said Samidi, who usually goes to sea in his katiran or compreng boat, a motorized boat made of fiber and measuring two meters by seven meters with a crew of two, or sometimes three.

"Fishermen like us generally use this kind of boat. We don't own the boat, we hire it," said Sugiyo, adding that almost 90 percent of Cilacap fishermen use this kind of boat. There are some fishermen, he said, who use a trawler owned by ethnic Chinese hailing from Bagansiapiapi, Riau.

Because the fishermen hire the boats, their catches must be divided into three. "If, for example, the two of us go to sea, half of the catch goes to the boat owner while the other half is divided among the crew of the boat," said Arwin.

Catches

According to Arwin, these months one 12-hour shift of fishing brings in between 40 and 50 kilograms of fish.

"At present there are a lot of white pomfret. We can sell the fish at Rp 13,000 per kilo," he said. "Prior to the crisis, this fish sold at only Rp 5,000 to Rp 6,000 per kg," said Arwin, adding that he usually sells his catch at a fish auction or to fish vendors, who wait on the beach for the fishermen to return.

Samidi, though, prefers to sell his fish to a fish vendor rather than at a fish auction.

"If there are regular vendors that buy our catches, we can establish cooperation with them. When I do not have money to go to sea to fish, the vendors will be ready to lend me some money. I will repay this loan with my catch. If we sell our catch at a fish auction, we cannot get a loan," he said.

When fishermen catch 50 kg of fish, their daily gross income is Rp 650,000. Half of this amount goes to the boat owner and to fuel expenses, and the remaining Rp 325,000 is divided among the men who caught the fish.

"We need Rp 50,000, for two days' supply of fuel (about 20 liters) and for our meals and cigarettes," said Samidi, who fishes with a net. "The boat owner is responsible for the boat equipment, while the fishing net and the fuel is supplied by the fishermen themselves," he said.

"We often return as late as 5 p.m. If some fishermen have not returned by then, the search and rescue team will find them," Samidi said.

With an average daily income of Rp 100,000, the fishermen say they can meet their daily needs and enjoy modern conveniences. Although their houses are not in the best condition, they have all the modern equipment. Each Cilacap fisherman owns a television. Most houses are equipped with tape decks, CD players and nice chairs.

"Our income is not fixed, though. Sometimes we don't catch a single fish after a whole day at sea. Our luck really depends on God," said Arwin.

Aware of the uncertainty in their earnings, the fishermen save their money in the bank. "Well, most of us have long-term plans. Some of us would like to build a house, or buy a boat. So we usually save part of our earnings," said Samidi.

Hope for a boat

Arwin and Samidi say that when their catches are big, just like the present time, Cilacap fishermen can earn an average of Rp 100,000 a day. Samidi believes, however, that a fisherman could earn three times as much if he had his own boat.

"Of course, we would need a lot of money at first. Well, we all hope to get our own boat so that we no longer have to give 50 percent of our catch to the boat owners. But we don't know when this dream will come true," said Arwin.

"Hopefully President Gus Dur (Abdurrahman Wahid) can help us by arranging interest-free loans for us to buy boats," said Samidi.

He says only a very few of some 20,000 fishermen in Cilacap have bought their own boats. "Not a single fisherman here can afford to buy a trawler because it costs hundreds of millions of rupiah. Only the Chinese from Bagan (or Bagansiapiapi) can afford to buy such boats," said Samidi. According to him, a trawler can take eight fishermen to sea for 15 days.

Samidi said that buying and equipping a katiran/compreng would be a considerable investment. A boat costs Rp 9 million to Rp 10 million, a diesel engine Rp 13 million to Rp 15 million and fishing nets Rp 4 million.

"One boat usually needs 40 fishing nets of the five-inch Sirang type, which is quite commonly used. Each costs Rp 100,000," said Samidi.

According to the fishermen, they cannot obtain a loan from a bank or from the village cooperative for fishermen (KUD Minosaroyo) because they do not have enough collateral and do not have regular incomes.

"Our collateral is the sea, and the bank of course does not want to accept it, although we are sure that the sea will hardly ever run out of fish," he said.