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Karimunjawa fishermen complain about use of 'cantrang'
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'Bubu' (bamboo fish traps) are commonly used by fishermen from Parang Island of the Karimunjawa Islands in Central Java.
(JP/ Stefanno Reinard Sulaiman )
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t least 60 traditional fishermen from Parang Island of the Karimunjawa Islands in Jepara, Central Java, have voiced their dismay over the continued use of cantrang (seine nets), which has destroyed the marine environment, particularly coral reefs that are home to various kinds of fish.
Mustaqim, a Parang fishermen, said on Wednesday that the use of cantrang had caused problems for small-scale fishermen in the area for the past two decades, and had significantly decreased their catches.
He said that because of the damage done to the coral reefs, where the fishermen usually placed bubu (bamboo fish traps), their catches had decreased by up to half.
"Even though the government has given us new bubu, the cantrang will sweep them away easily, like they took the coral reefs," Mustaqim said, referring to the 1,500 bubu handed over by the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, last month.
In addition to cantrang, small-scale fishermen are also often bothered by the operation of trawlers, which they say has forced them sail up to 100 times farther than previous times, when they only needed to sail several kilometers from the beach.
Fathqul Korib, another Parang fisherman, said that the bubu provided by the government were incomparable to the strength of trawls operated from 8 gross tonnage (GT) ships. "On bad days, we only get one or two fish after leaving a bubu for a week," he said.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti issued two regulations in 2015 and 2016 to ban the use of trawlers and cantrang, but President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo called on the minister to delay their implementation because of strong opposition from fishermen.
Unlike fishermen in Parang, those in other parts of Central Java rely on trawls and cantrang to catch fish. (bbn)
