Many people in town may love to eat mussels, but only few of them know where they come from. Among the places that supply these clams, Cilincing in North Jakarta must be high on the list.

For many people in Cilincing, mussels have become a source of income. The people in that area, from kids to adult, make money by transporting and cleaning up these shellfish. The men go to sea to harvest the bivalves while the women and the kids clean up the mollusks from the shells.

Mussels cultivation has become a profession. With an initial investment of Rp5 million to Rp10 million, local people can start their own mussel business. Usually, they can harvest the mussels once every four months.

Equipped with hand-made diving devices, the fishermen dive around three to seven- meters deep under the water. Before the water became contaminated with industrial waste, local fishermen could collect up to 1,000 buckets of mussels in one day. Today, they can only collect about 30 buckets.

They sell the mussels to vendors for Rp 3,000 to Rp 6,000 per bucket.

— Text and photos by Wendra Ajistyatama