Waves In The Indian Ocean Are Not Friendly, Lebak Fishermen Choose 'Disruption' In The Past

The Tanjung Panto Wanasalam TPI fishing boat in Lebak Regency was moored to the coast due to bad weather in the waters of the Indian Ocean. ANTARA/Mansur

JAKARTA - A number of traditional fishermen on the southern coast of Lebak in Banten have not been at sea for the past week. Because the west wind and high waves hit the waters of the Indian Ocean. "We don't dare to go to sea to avoid marine accidents," said Abas (45), a fisherman from the Ik5 Auction Place (TPI) Tanjung Panto Wanasalam, Lebak Regency, Saturday, September 10. The bad weather that hit the southern coast of Lebak Regency which was directly facing the Indian Ocean waters was quite dangerous for fishermen' safety. wind blows from the west accompanied by high waves ranging from 2.5 meters to 4.0 meters, so fishermen choose to be unemployed. Because, if forced to go to sea, the potential for marine accidents has also decreased drastically. "I do

I think it's better not to go to sea and it is certain that income is not balanced with production costs," said Abas, quoted from Antara.

According to him, fishermen here cannot confirm when to return to sea, because until now the weather on the south coast is not friendly. Besides strong winds from the west, the waves are also quite high and dangerous for short boats with a motorbike engine with a length of 2.5 meters and a width of 120 centimeters. In addition to strong winds from the west, the wind is 30 knots. "We and other fishermen are now better off repairing nets while waiting for the weather to return to normal," he said. Likewise, Aming (55), a fisherman from Binuangeun, Lebak Regency, admitted that he did not dare to go to sea due to high waves accompanied by strong winds and rain so that it could potentially cause marine accidents.

In fact, recently the Binuangeun fishermen became victims of a sea accident after being hit by high waves until the boat capsized and disappeared until it was found that the joint SAR team died. Currently, hundreds of traditional fishing boats on the shores of Binuangeun Beach and some of them were repaired. As long as it doesn't go to sea, to meet the needs of fishermen's kitchens, they rely on loans or debts. "We are used to bad weather pay debts to the boat owner's skipper and get paid later after the normal catch," he said. Head of the All-Indonesian Fishermen Association (HNSI) of Lebak Regency, Nurman said that since the last week fishermen in his area have not gone to sea due to bad weather as well as rising fuel prices. In addition, fishermen complained that the operational costs of fishing were quite high and for one week at sea it reached Rp. 5 million. Meanwhile, the selling price at auction is not balanced with operational costs. In addition, the catch is very minimal so fishermen choose not to go to sea.

"We hope that the price of fuel will go down again or be given subsidies," he said. Meanwhile, the Head of the Increase in the Capacity Division of Small Fishermen's Office of the Lebak Regency Fisheries Service, Rizal Ardiansyah, stated that his party is currently submitting to the Lebak Regent to help fishermen, regarding the adjustment of fuel prices. This is because fishermen are sure that production costs will increase after the adjustment of the fuel plus bad weather. Thus, his party can provide assistance to fishermen due to the impact of fuel price adjustments. "We will hold a meeting with the Regent That's Octavia," he said.