When the fishermen returned from their fishing trip late afternoon and docked at Muara Angke, Jakarta, the sky was overcast weather. Ahmad, 56 years old and father of two, said because of the bad weather, their catch was not good and they have been at sea for seven days.
“Whatever the weather, we still have to eat and we still have to go out to sea to fish. This is our only job,” Ahmad told Maritime Fairtrade.
Tarno Sudarsono, 45 years old, said even if the sea is rough with high waves and strong wind, a dangerous situation to be in, they still go out to fish. But with this kind of bad weather, which is becoming more often due to climate change, it is hard to have a good catch, at most five to 10 kg if they are lucky. Most of the time, however, they ended up empty-handed. On the other hand, in good weather, the fishermen are able to catch hundreds of kilos of fish.
According to the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the number of fishermen has dropped in the last decade. In 2010, it was 2.16 million but in 2019, it was 1.83 million. Parid Ridwanuddin, Walhi’s Coastal, Sea and Small Islands Campaign Manager, said climate crisis and the expansion of extractive industries in coastal, marine and small islands, are to blame.
“Because of the climate crisis, the weather becomes more unpredictable and more extreme and fishermen can only go out to sea for about 180 days in a year. The drastic drop in income resulted in many fishermen hanging up their nets and switched jobs,” said Parid.
Bad weather has also killed more fishermen in recent year. Walhi’s records showed there was 86 deaths in 2010 but in 2020, deaths had risen to 251. As the weather worsens, there is a possibility of mor deaths in the future.
A new report published on February 28 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated the current climate continues to deteriorate with rising temperatures, which is killing off fish and driving them to cooler waters. Indonesia is estimated to have lost 24 percent of income from fishing.
The report also stated 99 percent of coral reefs in Southeast Asia will experience bleaching due to climate crisis by 2030, and by 2050, 95 percent is forecasted to reach the highest threat category, with a high possibility of dying, and consequently impacting coral-dependent fish stock.
The expansion of the extractive industry, including mining and reclamation, in coastal areas, seas, and small islands has caused decline in the number of fishermen and is harmful to the climate and environment, eroding marine ecosystems. The extractive industry is contributing to the climate crisis.
WALHI noted as many as 747,363 fishing families in Indonesia were affected by reclamation projects. The government plans to further reclaim 2,698,734.04 hectares, from 79,348 hectares in 2020.
In the pipeline are also more mining projects in coastal areas, seas, and small islands. The current mining has already caused 35,000 fishing families to be displaced. Additionally, waters around 6,081 coastal villages are polluted by mining waste. Nonetheless, the government has more mining projects covering an area of 12,985,477 hectares.
Parid said the government’s practice of giving out fishing licenses, which the court has rules unconstitutional, to big companies is harmful to the local fishermen. This policy is effectively pitting small fishermen against big companies and there are no way small fishermen can compete against them, he added. He urged the government to relook this policy and come up with ways to help big fishing companies while at the same time not to the detriment of local fishermen.
All photos credit Iqbal Ramdhani excepted as stated.
