Decades ago, Bagan Siapiapi, Riau province, topped the list of the world’s best fishing towns.

Shape up or ship out: A group of children swim in front of an old wooden pier in Bagan Siapiapi port in Rokan Hilir, Riau. Once the country’s largest fish producing city, many native fishermen have given up their trade after fish production declined over the last several decades.

Today, local fishermen struggle to make ends meet. What used to be Indonesia’s largest fishing grounds have gone into decline after rapid coastal sedimentation and overfishing.

In the 1930s, the port produced more than 300,000 tons of fish a year, making Indonesia the world’s second-largest fish producer after Peru, according to the Rokan Hilir tourism agency.

Production started to decline in the 1950s, after World War II.

The coastal area turned into swampland. Many fishermen, including those inherited their jobs from their parents, ended up beaching their boats and switching to other jobs.

Suyanto, 36, a former fisherman who now works on a ferry, recalled the days when his father took him sailing on a wooden fishing boat on the Malacca Strait.

“We usually spent at least a week at sea before coming back with fish filling every corner of our boat,” said Suyanto, grinning.

The father of four, who was born and raised in the town, said he had taken over piloting his father’s boat when he was in his early 20s.

After struggling with small and unprofitable catches for several years, Suyanto gave up his profession in 2002 and sold his boat to pay off piling debts.

“I gave up,” he said.

After losing his boat, Suyanto found work as a crewman on a wooden ferry boat that served passengers travelling between Bagan Siapiapi and Halang Island.  

Another Bagan Siapiapi resident, Hendrik, 26, chose not to find new work and to keep pursuing fish, but this time aboard a large commercial fishing vessel that plies the farthest part of the Malacca Strait.

Growing up in a fishing family, Hendrik said he had no other choice than to beach his fishing boat after a local businessman lured him with the promise of better wages.

As part of his new job, Hendrik works around the clock for two weeks and then has one week off. He said he can pocket almost Rp 400,000 (US$45) for every two-week voyage. 

“When I was still fishing with my own boat, I often didn’t have enough money to buy fuel,” he said.  

“Now I just have to keep my body fit so that the ship captain would hire me back.”

Bagan Siapiapi, which is on Riau’s eastern coast, used to be part of Bengkalis regency. In 1999, the city became the capital of the newly established Rokan Hilir regency.

Bagan Siapiapi is a six-hour drive from Riau’s capital, Pekanbaru, or a 10-hour drive from the North Sumatran capital of Medan.

The road heading to the city is relatively smooth and is flanked by acres of oil palm trees or abandoned swampland.

The only public transportation serving Bagan Siapiapi is travel vans. Most residents prefer to use motorcycles, while a small number drive cars.

Locals say the city was established in the late 19th century by Chinese fishermen who fled their hometown in Fujian province to find a place where they could start a better life.

After weeks at sea, their boats were stranded on a peninsula on Sumatra’s northern coast. The Chinese decided to settle in the area after they realized its incredible fishing potential.

As their livelihood improved, the fishing families invited their relatives and friends back home to join them. By the 20th century, the peninsula had become a crowded city with a Chinese influence dominating its architecture and culture.

The area’s rapid development led the Dutch colonial administration to make Bagan Siapiapi the country’s first modern fishing port in 1901. It later became the biggest fishing port in the Malacca Strait.

“Just imagine, the port built by the Dutch a hundred years ago is now located around three kilometers away from the current port,” Rokan Hilir Marine and Fisheries Agency deputy head Surya Alam said.

According to the agency, the city produced around 10,000 tons of fish per year over the past three years – a much smaller amount than that produced by neighboring Kubu district, which produced on average of  23,000 tons of fish a year in the same period.

Aside from sedimentation, fishermen in Bagan Siapiapi also face illegal overseas fishermen, including those from Malaysia.

“We have estimated that 60 percent of fish caught annually in Rokan Hilir waters actually went to overseas fishermen,” Surya said, adding the regency currently had only one operating patrol boats to guard its waters.

Unable to guard its coast, Bagan Siapiapi has now turned into a haven for overseas drug smugglers.

In August last year, Riau police broke up a drug syndicate based in the city’s downtown and confiscated hundreds of ecstasy pills allegedly smuggled from Malaysia.

“We have spotted more syndicates that are running similar operations in the city. However, catching them red-handed is not an easy job,” said a source at the Rokan Hilir Police station who declined to be named.

The port now serves wooden ferryboats that ply the seas between Bagan Siapiapi and neighboring islands such as Panipahan and Halang, charging passengers from Rp 35,000 and Rp 80,000 per trip.

Not far from the almost-empty port, dozens of docks belong to fishing families still stand — although many of them have not harbored boats for years.

Several years ago, the port offered a ferry service between the city and Port Klang in Malaysia. However, the service ended after it attracted few passengers.

“Many people chose to go to Malaysia from the seaport in Dumai, which has much better facilities,” said Indra Ali, a Bagan Siapiapi port official.

— Photos by Hasym Widhiarto

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