The hardship and toil of a fisherman's life

By Ahmad Solikhan

BATANG, Central Java (JP): It happens day in and day out with no change. Hundreds of fishing boats dock at Batang Port after dusk, and early the next morning the fishermen hurriedly pack their catch for delivery to the local fish auction center.

One of the regular sights is a middle-aged man standing aboard a boat, cleaning his plastic nets. He also keeps the deck as clean as possible, scrubbing it to rid it of odors.

For this is how 50-year-old Abdul Kalil earns his living and supports his 10 children.

Born in Pemalang, Central Java, Kalil first started working at the port at the age of 11 when his parents could no longer afford his elementary schooling. He became an anak alang-alang, the young boys who scramble to take fish which drops from crates when they are being carried from the ships to the auction center.

Five years later, out of boredom and shame as a scavenger who was a nuisance to fishermen, he was able to get hired by a motorboat owner and finally go to sea.

He said his first time at sea, on a weeklong trip with 30 men, was a valuable experience. But he quickly developed skin irritation and was unable to return to sea for several weeks.

It was a blow to his family's earnings, and Kalil decided that he would have to go back to sea despite his condition. He said he was amazed that when he returned to sea, he was totally healed.

His fishing crew uses a net with metal weights around it. The net is spread to a depth of around 50 meters and then the boat circles it several times to herd fish into it. A single spread can haul around 50 kilograms of different sizes of fish.

He said knowing where the best fish are found was not a matter of luck.

"The presence of fish is detected only by a fishermen's instinct," the tall, dark-skinned man said.

From a week's voyage in the seas off Pekalongan, Tegal and Cilacap, Kalil and the other fishermen can net from one ton to two tons of fish, which are sold to the auctioneers from Rp 500 to Rp 20,000 per kg. The cheapest fish is usually salted and sold to traditional markets, while more expensive fish like Spanish mackerel and tuna ara mostly bought by middlemen.

Each of them gets Rp 14,000 to Rp 15,000 daily for the work, which for Kalil and his friends is not enough because their work is seasonal. To compensate, Kalil sometimes hires a rowboat at Rp 15,000 a day to fish in coastal areas, though he can only catch from 25 kg to 50 kg a day.

Another fisherman, Supadi, 35, said fishermen occasionally returned home empty-handed, but the time of greatest scarcity was from July to August, when easterly winds changed sea currents.

"At this time boat owners tend to stop operation as losses are imminent," the father of three said.

The fishermen remain at the mercy of the boat owners because there is no production-sharing agreement, including around the postfasting month holiday Idul Fitri, when they must meet contract stipulations. Despite years of toil, most fishermen have little to show for it, such as small boats or decent homes. Few can support their children's schooling.

Compounding their problems are the gambling, drinking and promiscuity which afflict many fishing communities. Many of the fishermen spend beyond their means in order to keep up appearances, with no money left to take care of their dependents.

Like their fathers before them, the fishermen are deprived of ways to improve their standard of living. Their chance of better earnings and working independently is apparently thwarted by circumstances, both those beyond their control and of their own making.