\'Shrimp City\' That Has No Shrimp

Kompas/Aditya Putra Perdana

The crew of a cantrang (seine net) fishing boat prepare to go out to sea on Thursday (15/2) at the Tasikagung Beach fishing boat harbor in Rembang regency, Central Java.

For centuries, shrimp has been the mainstay of the people of Cirebon, West Java. In fact, the name Cirebon is derived from ci (water) and rebon ( small shrimp). However, it is difficult to find shrimp in Cirebon today. Only four golden sculptures of shrimp remain, perched on top of Cirebon City Hall.

The disappearance of shrimps in the city is inseparable from the destruction of marine ecosystems, one trigger of which is the increasing use of environmentally unfriendly fishing devices. The environmental damage is hurting the fishermen’s livelihood.

Miskad, 59, who moored his boat in Samadikun, a Cirebon fishing village, usually goes to sea from dawn to evening to search for shrimp along the coast of Cirebon, has only been able to catch a kilogram of shrimp a day. It is worth only Rp 40,000, not enough to buy fuel for the next day.

"This is called a screw-up," said Miskad, a father of seven children. For Miskad, finding shrimp in "the City of Shrimp" is becoming more and more difficult. It was like farming arid land, he said. In fact, a few dozen years ago, shrimp were easily found along the shores during the seasonal cycle of easterly winds that usually arrived before March.

In the 1980s, from dawn to midday, he was able to bring home 80 kg of shrimp. At that time, not many fishermen, including Miskad, used motorized boats. The price of shrimp was very high, reaching up to Rp 20,000 per kg. At that time, shrimp were much more expensive than fish, which was worth only Rp 400 to Rp 1,500 per kg. Not surprisingly, shrimp became an export commodity, as it still is today. That is why many fishermen from Cirebon, Indramayu, and several other areas in Central Java search for shrimp in the waters off Cirebon.

"More and more boats use [environmentally harmful] fishing gear, from arad and dogol to seine nets. This is one of the causes of the shrimp’s disappearance," said Miskad, who has been  a fisherman since 1975.

Back then, Miskad used a fishing net with a mesh size of more than 1.5 inches. According to the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, these fishing devices are environmentally unfriendly, as small mesh sizes below 1 inch can catch even baby shrimp and fry.

Trawling the seabed with nets also damages oysters and clams. The home of marine creatures is now filled by household waste, from plastic to disposable diapers. Garbage is spread across the coastal areas of Samadikun, Bondet, Losari and others. "If you go to sea, you only find garbage instead of shrimp," he said.

Not seeking shrimp

Kartam, 44, a Pesisir village fisherman in Panjunan, Cirebon, stopped looking for shrimp three years ago because no more shrimps could be found in the nearby seas. Those who want to find shrimps must get to open sea, more than a five-hour journey. Such a journey will cost at least Rp 1.5 million.

"In fact, in the early 2000s, we could still catch shrimp in the sea near the shore. If the [harvest] season was good, it was not uncommon to make Rp 10 million a day,” said Kartam, pointing at the waters only about 50 meters offshore from a residential area. At that time, he said, the sea was still blue.

Kartam was uncertain as to why the shrimp disappeared. Now, the estuary in Kampung Pesisir is brackish. The area is located just beside the Port of Cirebon, which is also used as a coal depot.

Tiny shrimp, known as rebon (Acetes erythraeus, or Tsivakihini paste shrimp) usually appear for a period of at least four months following the easterly winds. Although cheaper at about Rp 10,000 per kg, the rebon remains the mainstay catch for the Cirebon fishermen. This commodity is the raw material for terasi (fermented shrimp paste), which costs about Rp 60,000 per kg. The terasi made by the fishermen’s wives is popular, because it is made purely from rebon and is not mixed with fish. That is why terasi is one of the most popular souvenirs to bring back from Cirebon.

The difficulty of harvesting shrimp is also reflected in the fish production data of the Cirebon food, agriculture, marine and fisheries office (PPKP). In 2008, the wild harvest volume of shrimp from the waters along 7 kilometers of Cirebon’s shoreline reached 196 tons. The amount dropped to 112.5 tons in 2014 and further fell to 79.4 tons in 2015.

"For 2016 and 2017, there was no specific data on the shrimp commodity. Production is falling," said PPKP head Erythrina Oktiyani.

At the same time, the shrimp processing industry is nearly nonexistent in Cirebon. According to her, only one company remains in Cirebon that produces shrimp paste. In fact, most of the souvenir shops in Cirebon sell shrimp paste from Indramayu.

‘Cai rebon’

The current condition shows that Cirebon has lost its identity as the City of Shrimp, which it had carried for centuries. According to history, in the 14th century, Ki Cakrabumi, the founder of Cirebon, entertained ministers from Rajagaluh with a dish called gragal (mashed rebon shrimp) The guests complimented the food, which was called terasi. Ki Cakrabumi then replied in Sundanese, “Mundak caina (it’s all about the water)."

After eating it, the guests asked for more while chanting, "Cai rebon, cai rebon" (rebon water). Since then, the area became known as "Cairebonan", which then became Cirebon.

The shrimp even became an emblem of the City of Cirebon. The golden yellow shrimp symbolizes the prosperity the marine produce has given to the Cirebon people. The shrimp statue was thus installed at Cirebon City Hall.

The Cirebon chairman of the Ambulu Fishermen, Samsurudin, hoped that the use of environmentally friendly fishing equipment could restore Cirebon’s marine ecosystem.

Restoring health to the marine ecosystem could once again bring prosperity to the Cirebon fishermen through abundant shrimp harvests, unlike today, when the only shrimp is a sculpture at City Hall.