The Cry of The Last Fish Trap

KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO

An officer at Bandar Bakau tourist site in Dumai, Riau prepares seeds to be planted in a ceremony to celebrate International Mangrove Day on Saturday (27/7/2019). In Riau, there are 180,000 hectares of mangrove forests, of which 30,000 hectares require restoration.

The presence of ports and factories as well as an increase of waste in Riau’s Dumai city threatens mangrove trees and the aquatic ecosystem. The activities of the local fishermen are also being affected.

The fishermen are afraid to go home as they fear their children will ask them for money to pay their school fees. They really miss the smile and warmth of their wives, but they are afraid to meet them because the owners of the shops near their house will ask them to pay their debts.

The poem titled "Final Fish Trap" was read amid the sound of waves reaching the shore of Bandar Bakau (mangrove city), an ecotourism area managed by the local community in Dumai, Riau.

The theatrical performance presented by Bendera Theater and children from the Nature School of Marine Nature Lovers, who manage Bandar Bakau, was the highlight of an event to commemorate World Mangrove Day held by the Mangrove Ecosystem Restoration Alliance.

Under the sun, the poem composed by Darwis Muhammad Saleh, an artist and the manager of Bandar Bakau, became the soul of the theater performance titled Hantu Laut (the ghost of the sea) held on the beach.

The performance was a contemplation of the life of fishermen who struggle to make a living amid environmental damage and pollution.

"Coastal reclamation continued, mangrove trees were cut, fires were everywhere, but no reforestation as the boss was not at home. The oil spill polluted the coast, but no sanction was given, as someone supported them,” said Acha Syanila Syuhada as he read the poem.

The poem was read out in front of senior officials of the Riau provincial government and the Dumai city administration, the Environment and Forestry Ministry and representatives of big companies as well as the local residents.

The words in the poem reflected the reality faced by the fishermen.

Darwis Muhammad Saleh said his poetry was inspired by the stories told by fishermen he met. "It recorded the life of fishermen, which is becoming increasingly difficult," he said.

The reading of the poem was not the first. Last April, while celebrating Fisherman\'s Day, the poem was read, but only low-rank local government attended the event, which was held to support the life of fishermen in Dumai, who relied on fishing at the sea near the beach. The condition of the coastal ecosystems is important for them. The more healthy the coastal condition, the more it supports the livelihood of the fishermen.

KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO

Theater players perform Garbage Ghost during the commemoration of International Mangrove Day, which took place in Bandar Bakau, Dumai, Riau, on Saturday (27/7/2019). Through the art show, the community is invited to see the fate of fishermen who are increasingly depressed by environmental pollution due to garbage and damage to the mangrove ecosystem.

Since Dumai, which is located near Malacca in Peninsular Malaysia, is a major port and industrial area, infrastructure facilities have been massively developed in its coastal area. The mangrove trees, which provided an ecologically important habitat for a wide variety of fish, crabs and shrimp, were cut to make way for the construction of ports and factories.

The mangrove forests in the Bandar Bakau, part of 26 hectares of mangrove forests around the city, are located closer to the city of Dumai than the other mangrove forests. If the fishermen with support from Darwis Muhammad Saleh, did not resist the extension of the port, Dumai would lose its mangroves and fishermen would be replaced by oil tankers and cargo ships.

Didi Trianto from the Bagansiapie Forest Management Unit in Dumai and Rokan Hilir witnessed the perseverance of Darwis in encouraging the local residents to take care and grow the mangrove trees. The mangrove trees that were planted were often destroyed. But they did not stop. They continued to grow more mangrove trees.

Now, the second generation mangrove trees are being planted in between the mangrove trees, which have grown in areas that have been saved from the acquisition for the port expansion.

For almost 20 years, the people were worried that the area of the mangrove forests could be acquired and used for the expansion of the port. Only three years ago, they felt relieved when the Environment and Forestry Ministry issued Ministerial Regulation No. 903/2016, which declared the mangrove forests as “limited productive forest”, a status that can protect them from being used for other purposes.

KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO

Theater players perform Garbage Ghost during the commemoration of International Mangrove Day, which took place in Bandar Bakau, Dumai, Riau, on Saturday (27/7/2019). Through the art show, the community is invited to see the fate of fishermen who are increasingly depressed by environmental pollution due to garbage and damage to the mangrove ecosystem.

With that status, local residents can manage mangrove forests legally. Through social forestry, residents use the mangrove forests for ecotourism. So, aside from being fishermen, who catch fish with fishing nets, fishing rods and fish traps, residents get additional income from the entrance tickets, parking and food stalls.

However, the increasing waste haunts the mangrove forests and the 30-kilometer coastal area in the city. This inspired the theater to use the Ghost of the Sea as the title of its performance. "This is our cry to see the environment, which has been polluted by waste,” said Rizqi Kurniawan, the theater director who is also a lecturer at the Nature School in Bandar Bakau.

Garbage such as plastic bags carried by tidal sea water were stuck in the roots of the mangrove trees, making them unable to breath. Research shows that plastic at the roots can kill mangrove trees. Information about the impact of plastic waste on marine life, seabirds, fish and humans was the main message conveyed during the theater performance.

The students of the Nature School played as dry mangroves and dead fish during the performance.

KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO

The 26-hectare mangrove forest area in Dumai, Riau, has been saved from attempts to change the forest into an industrial estate as seen on Saturday (27/7/2019). The land that had already been partly cleared is replanted with mangroves and used for community ecotourism that directly supports the economy and increases the fish population.

The sea ghost played by Aidon Diago, a semester X student at the Dumai Institute of Administrative Sciences, caught the fish queen and killed her children. After the humans realized their mistakes, they cleaned up the garbage, the sea shined again. "Sea ghosts in the form of the garbage are threatening our ocean," Rizqi said. (ICHWAN SUSANTO)