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Yogya farmers turn to the sea
The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Fri, 11/24/2006 12:30 PM
Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Gunungkidul
Prolonged drought has forced farmers living in coastal areas of Gunungkidul regency, Yogyakarta to turn their eyes to the sea.
The farmers are now gathering seaweed, lobsters and other marine life to make a living.
""It's more rewarding than sitting idly at home. My family and I need to eat. We cannot depend on crops due to the long drought. What would we eat?"" farmer Reji Tiyono told The Jakarta Post in his home in Duwet hamlet, Purwodadi subdistrict.
The 60-year-old grandfather of four has been searching for lobsters for the past month, combing reefs along Siung Beach in his small boat.
He uses a simple device to catch them, in the form of a net attached to an iron ring measuring around one meter in diameter. The ring is fastened to a rope and submerged among rocks and corals every evening. He inspects the traps the next day by pulling the rope.
""I can get one or two kilograms of lobsters, which I can sell at Rp 100,000 (about US$11.00) per kg, a reasonable amount to put food on the table,"" said Rejo, who lays more than 50 traps daily.
Around 1,000 farmers living along the Baron to Sadeng beaches, which stretch for around 65 km, have temporarily become fishermen. The men pursue fish and lobster, while the women collect seaweed, which is abundant along the coastal areas.
""Our main source of livelihood is still farming. Catching lobsters is only a seasonal sideline. If the rainy season arrives, we will return to farming,"" said villager Suroto, who caught two lobsters weighing 1.2 kg that morning.
Another resident in Banjarejo village, Tanjungsari district, said she collected seaweed on Drini Beach.
""We cannot grow anything during the dry season. I have to gather seaweed to earn money,"" said Tugiyem.
Between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. she can collect seven to nine kilograms of seaweed, which is worth Rp 1,000 per kilogram. At low tide she and hundreds of other villagers comb the beach.
""There is a large number of people, more than 100 on Drini Beach alone, not to mention those on Baron, Kukup or Wedi Ombo beaches,"" she said.
Residents do not find it difficult to sell what they gather, since brokers appear every morning.
""The size of the catch doesn't matter. Now and then I can get 100 kilograms, at other times 15 kilograms, and sometimes none at all,"" said Sumaji, a lobster broker on Siung Beach.
He said he paid between Rp 100,000 and Rp 120,000 per kilogram of lobster according to size, with bigger ones fetching a better price.
""I send the lobsters straight to the buyer so that he can send them to the resort island of Bali at once,"" said Sumaji.
