New Yogyakarta trend: Fish culture in a channel
Machmud NA, Contributor, Yogyakarta
Walking along the streets near the UIN Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (IAIN) used to be very unpleasant. Garbage was piled everywhere and a strong smell emanated from the nearby gutter.
"If you were walking on this street a year ago, you would not have been able to stand the smell," a resident said.
But things have changed. The gutters have been cleaned out and the stench is gone. Instead, passersby will be able to see people busily feeding their fish that they keep in the channel. Yes, people are raising fish in the channel.
Of course the channel still smells, but it is the smell of fish and fish meal.
"The objective of breeding fish in the channel is to restore the environment and to provide an additional income for locals," said Supranoto, who together with Mugiyono and Suroto, initiated the project on May 26, 2002.
They started by clearing out the waste and debris that had accumulated in the channel. Then they sectioned off the channel into seven-meter-long segments and separated them with meshed wire.
The channel has since been divided to make 74 sections from the initial 41. In each section, they place a keramba (cage). In the beginning, only 20 of the 41 areas were used because only a few residents were interested in the idea.
More people became interested in it after the project turned out to be a success.
The various fish -- ranging from catfish to goldfish -- are sold to restaurants and supermarkets although some people cultivate them just for a hobby or their own consumption.
As the number of residents joining the project has increased, they have set up an association called the Gajah Wong Fish Cage Owners Association and named Supranoto as its chief. Gajah Wong is the main river running through the area.
The association's activities include drawing up business strategies and maintaining the channel. Each member pays a monthly fee of Rp 3,500 for maintenance purposes.
The association is also in charge of settling any disputes that may arise among members of the project.
"Most disputes occur if the partition that separates the two cages breaks and their fishes mix," Supranoto said.
Pranoto said that the fish farmers cooperate with an expert who can provide knowledge on how to maintain the fishes' health, because they have little background in that area.
There is definitely a future in the business. Orders are coming in, but not all of them can be filled. A part of the problem is that the small amount of capital does not enable the farmers to buy bigger fry for faster yields.
"I can earn as much as Rp 300,000 from just a single yield," Supranoto, who owns a small shop, said. "I also receive orders from hotels but I cannot fill them," said the 40-year-old bachelor.
"A commercial bank has actually offered us a loan but we are reluctant to take it because they (the farmers) do this just for a hobby and not business," said Supranoto.
The farmers have yet to learn more about fish culture know-how to improve the quality of their product. At present, they are emphasizing the quantity aspect.
But despite all the constraints, the residents' efforts have won praise because they are doing something worthwhile not only to improve their welfare, but also to help the environment.