Restless Nights for Boat Captains in Fear of Approaching Foreign Boats

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

Bujang, 65, shows the traditional fishing line and lures he uses to catch fish on Thursday (9/1/2020) at Baruk Bay in East Bunguran district, Natuna, Riau Islands. Traditional fishermen are seeing declining catches because of fish theft.

In North Natuna Sea, local fishermen with their small boats are powerless in the face of fierce waves and illegal fishing. There is nothing they are waiting for more than the motherland fulfilling its promise to protect her own children in their own seas.

On the evening of Jan. 8, a coffee shop in Lubuk Lumbang Port, East Bunguran district, Natuna, Riau Islands, was filled with fishermen who were watching a television talk show about the latest situation on the Natuna Sea. Adri, 55, Taufik, 40, and Rudi, 30, were laughing endlessly and making comments on the show.

They were crewmembers of the Rajawali motorboat, among those that recorded the dozens of foreign fishing boats in North Natuna Sea on Thursday (26/12/2019).

“If someone says that fishermen in Natuna never venture to the high seas, we want to ask them to come with us on our boat. Take a look at the reality out there,” Adri said.

Fishing boats in Natuna are generally wooden, weighing between 3 and 7 gross tons (GT), called pompong. The fishermen commonly use traditional fishing techniques, such as with fishing rods. With this limited equipment, they venture out to Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

The number of fishermen decreases when the northern monsoon arrives between late November and January, when the waves can reach more than 6 meters high. In this period, only fishermen with boats weighing 5-7 GT are willing to go out to sea.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

Two fishermen take a fish from a cooler to prepare as bait on Sunday (12/1/2020) in East Bunguran district, Natuna, Riau Islands. The livelihood of Natuna’s traditional fishermen was again disrupted in December 2019, when dozens of Vietnamese and Chinese foreign vessels fished illegally in the North Natuna Sea.

As a matter of fact, the high waves during the northern monsoon is not the most fearsome. The only thing that makes these fishermen return to land early is when their anchor rope is cut when they are chased by foreign fishing boats.

Vietnamese and Chinese fishing boats fishing in North Natuna Sea generally weigh 30-100 GT. They capture fish in groups using trawl nets. One group can comprise 20 boats.

“At night, boat captains cannot sleep peacefully. They are worried all the time as they must be ready to cut off their anchor ropes whenever trawl boats approach,” Rudi said.

Trawl nets take everything underwater right to the sea bottom. The small wooden boats’ anchor ropes can get caught and the boats can be dragged along far off course.

On the waters 60 nautical miles out of Laut Island, Rudi said, coral reefs were destroyed by trawl nets, leaving only mud behind. This is a blow to local fishermen as they can no longer catch reef fish.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

A fisherman’s representative holds up a protest poster on Sunday (12/1/2020) in Natuna, Riau Islands, including a statement that opposes the government’s plan to allow fishing from the northern coast of Java to Natuna. Natuna’s fishermen hope that the government will not be reckless in resolving disputes in the North Natuna Sea and instead prioritize long-term solutions.

Illegal fishers work like bandits.

“They number in the dozens or hundreds. As there are many of them, the groups look like bright islands at night,” Taufik said.

Other than having more and bigger boats, illegal foreign fishermen are always escorted by coast guards. Local fishermen are powerless in seeing their seas looted every day.

“There is no shortage of fishermen in Natuna. We lack coast guards. Many will go out to sea if their safety and security is guaranteed,” said Sepempang subdistrict fisherman Hendri.

This may lead to new conflicts due to territorial fights and differences in fishing equipment.

However, instead of adding more coast guards, the government plans to bring hundreds of fishermen from Java’s north coast. This may lead to new conflicts due to territorial fights and differences in fishing equipment.Plummeting yield

Rampant illegal fishing has led to plummeting yield among local fishermen. Usually they can get 1.5 tons of reef fish in one fishing trip. These days, their fishing yield is less than 1 ton. Mackarel tuna, a mainstay yield during the northern monsoon season, are gone after they are fished by foreign boats’ trawls.

“Nowadays, it is us who run away from the thieves. It used to be that thieves are arrested and their ships sunk. It made them afraid to come back here,” Adri said.

Illegal fishing also affects smallholder fishermen who fish at less than 48 kilometers from land. Bujang, 65, for instance, rarely has yields of more than 100 kilograms these days. In the past four years, his average yield was 150 kg in every fishing trip.

ANTARA FOTO/M RISYAL HIDAYAT

China Coast Guard vessel 5202 follows the Indonesian Navy’s KRI Usman Harun-359 on Saturday (11/1/2020) as the latter approaches a Chinese trawler fishing illegally in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the waters north of Natuna Island. While on patrol, KRI Usman Harun-359, KRI Jhon Lie-358 and KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 encountered six Chinese Coast Guard vessels, one Chinese fishing escort vessel and 49 foreign trawlers.

This is ironic, considering that the potential fish resource in the Indonesian Fishery Management Area (WPP-NRI) 711, comprising Karimata Strait, Natuna Sea and South China Sea, which reached 767,126 tons in 2017, is enjoyed by foreign fishermen.

Like the TV talk show that evening, the problem in North Natuna Sea will not be resolved through talks or diplomacy without concrete actions. For local fishermen, every fish in the Natuna Sea is their present and their future.