M

isol, 67, was seated inside her hut waiting for a fishing boat at the river mouth to buy fish she would later sell.

When the boat finally arrived, she saw the crew was not very happy, indicating that the catch was not good. This meant she would have only a small number of fish to sell. She purchased only four medium-sized crabs with a combined weight of less than a kilogram.

“I can buy up to three kilograms of rajungan when the catch is good,” Misol said, referring to the local name for crab.

She bought each crab for Rp 25,000, which she would pay after she was able to sell them. She normally sells them for Rp 35,000 each.

Misol, who lives in Astanajapura district, about a kilometer to the east of the Waruduwur river in Cirebon, said it this had been her only way to earn money after her husband passed away 10 years ago.

Misol lives with her three sons in a humble house partly made of plaited bamboo. Her sons work as seasonal construction laborers or driving pedicabs. All the three have only elementary school educations, for which Misol is not overly concerned.

“What is important is that they can read. After that they have to work. Whatever the work is does not matter,” Misol said.

Misol is a portrait of poverty in some coastal villages in the regency.

Unpredictable weather has often prevented villagers from fishing at sea. If fishermen finally do get out they usually only fish in shallow waters, usually meaning the catch will not be very good, Misol said.

Fisherman Tarmidi, 26, said he was often forced to borrow money from the owner of his fishing boat when he was not able to fish.

“I will pay it back when I go to sea. In the meantime, that is all I can do to support my family,” said the father of a five-year old daughter.

Tarmidi said that due to the inability to fish over a relatively long period of time, he had borrowed Rp 5 million (US$561) from his boss, a total that included a previous obligation he assumed for buying a new fishing net.

“I hope the weather will get better so I can go to sea, earn a living and pay my debt,” Tarmidi said, adding he had been fishing since age seven.

He expressed pessimism that he would be able to send his daughter to college, and not just elementary school, like himself. He was doubtful, especially because he only earned between Rp 30,000 to Rp 50,000 a day — when the catch was good.

Activist Aan Anwarudin, who provides supervisory assistance to coastal communities in Cirebon, said the weather anomaly had made the economically disadvantaged coastal people suffer even more.

“In bad weather they cannot fish at sea. When they don’t fish they earn nothing. In the end they rely on debt, because fishing is the only skill they have,” said Aan, who is also coordinator of Rapel, a Cirebon-based environmental NGO.

Things become even more difficult for them because the coastal ecosystem has been damaged by the development of large-scale industry in the region, such as the establishment of Kanci coal-generated power plant, Aan said.