Foreign fishing crews in Tual liven up island economy

A section in the central market of the backwater Tual Island in Maluku seems to be detached from the surrounding bustle.

The Jakarta Post | Thu, 03/06/2008 1:22 AM

While many outsiders say the expensive goods drive away buyers from this section, locals blame the police.

They say this section of the market was severely affected by a police crackdown on illegal fishing in the waters of Tual in late November. The section had become a regular spot for foreign crew members of fishing vessels to shop for supplies, vendors said.

"Before the crackdown, this part of the market was always packed with Thai and Vietnamese crew members. A lot of locals made ends meet by supplying foreign crews," resident Upang Bugis told The Jakarta Post in early January.

Upang used to help transport supplies from the market to the fishing vessels.

Although fishing vessels operating in the surrounding seas mostly fly Indonesian flags, the captains and crews are mostly from Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, while the Indonesians are only tasked with petty work, police say.

When police seized 14 fishing vessels for alleged poaching just off Tual and Benjina islands last Nov. 26 and Dec. 7, 306 crew members from Thailand, two from Myanmar and 18 from Indonesia were arrested.

The employment of these foreign crew members violates existing fishing regulations, which stipulate that an Indonesian flagged fishing vessel must have 70 percent locals among its crew.

However, the police and the fisheries ministry blame the ministry of manpower and transmigration for failing to supervise employment on fishing vessels.

"Most residents here are so dependent on income from foreign fishing crews they no longer bother about not getting chances to work on fishing vessels," said Maluku Tenggara Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Ony Budyo Suswanto.

He estimated around 70 percent of the 90,000 natives of Tual Island either worked as traditional fishermen or provided supplies and services to crews of the vessels who regularly came to the island.

Following concerns that foreign crews would no longer stop by in Tual, dozens of residents staged a rally protesting the police raids on fishing vessels.

"Residents and some local legislators came to the police to protest the detentions. They claimed the arrests would scare off foreign fishermen from coming to Tual to buy food," said Ony.

Tual is the capital of Maluku Tenggara regency in Maluku. The island is around a two-hour flight from Maluku's capital Ambon.

The island can also be reached in four days on a passenger vessel operated by state-owned shipping company PT Pelni from East Java's capital Surabaya.

Fishing vessels, crewed mostly by foreigners, often stop at Tual to upload supplies or, ideally, download their catches to a local processing plant after weeks of fishing on the Arafura Sea, a hotbed for poachers, according to the National Police.

When the Post visited the island, the uploading activities of illegally collected fish directly to foreign trampers had become a daily sight at all ports on Tual Island.

Lack of supervision and the island's remote location seem to have created a haven for illegal fishing activities.

The Arafura Sea, where Tual is the main fishing harbor, attracts international poaching syndicates due to its abundant reserves and quality of the fish, according to the director general for supervision at the ministry of fisheries and marine affairs, Aji Sularso.

The sea is around 1,290 kilometers long and 560 kilometers wide, stretching between Papua and Australia.

"The (Arafura) sea is a meeting point between warm and cold waters. The quality and the types of fish there are unmatchable," said Aji, adding that poachers, mostly from Thailand and China, had been operating there since the 1980s.

The National Police's deputy director for special crimes, Sr. Comr. Sadar Sebayang, said a fishing vessel operating in Arafura could net fish worth at least Rp 20 billion per catch, while income received by the regency reached only around Rp 8 billion annually in the form of local fees.

The police believe some 5,088 fishing vessels above 30 gross tons are operating in the country's eastern waters, with most of the vessels regularly harboring in Tual.

Aside from providing supplies, Tual residents also provide nightlife spots for foreign crews seeking rest and recreation after weeks of struggle on the open sea.

When the Post visited the island, there were around five brothels operating in an area dubbed "Mona Lisa". These brothels are often packed with foreign fishermen.

A pimp there said sex workers from West Java were the favorite of Thai fishermen. Other sex workers come from East Java, Kalimantan and South Sulawesi.

Sex workers said they do not receive regular check-ups. Police chief Ony said there was no data on HIV infections, as most sex workers refuse to undergo regular medical check-ups. -- JP/Rendi Akhmad Witular (With additional reporting by M. Aziz Tunny)