Sistemas Productivos

The statistics of Palabuhanratu fisheries is annually published by PPN Palabuhanratu. The latest version summarised in the following paragraphs is Fisheries statistics 2015 (PPN Palabuhanratu, 2015).

3.4.1 Fishing vessels

In 2015, the number of fishing vessels based in Palabuhanratu fishing port was 696 units consisting of inboard vessels (36%) and outboard vessels (64%) ranging in size from 2 GT to more than 200 GT. The fleet is composed of eight different types of vessel, specifically, longliner, troll liner, purse seiner, lift netter, trammel netter, gillnetter, handliner, and pelagic Danish seiner. The last three types are outboard vessels, whilst the remainings are inboard vessels, except gillnetters which consist of both inboard and outboard vessels. The composition of the fishing fleet in Palabuhanratu fishing port is presented in Figure 3.7.

Figure 3.7 Composition of the fishing fleet in Palabuhanratu (PPN Palabuhanratu, 2015)

3.4.2 Fishing community

At least 4.8 thousand people are engaged in fishing-related activities as fishers, fishing vessel owners, fish sellers, fish processors, suppliers, and other supporting businesses, such as shipbuilders, engineers, and port workers. The fisher is the person who is directly involved in the fishing operations, whilst other groups conduct secondary activities prior to and after the fishing process. Figure 3.8 shows that fishers are the principal occupation, comprising 66% of the community. Information regarding occupational status is not available, however, according to the port authority, most work as full-time fishers. A report issued by The Government of Sukabumi Regency (2016) and The Government of Palabuhanratu District (2016), explains that the proportion of people working in the fishing sector is approximately 16% of the region’s population and 24% of the population is in the economically productive age (between 15-64). Furthermore, considering male domination in fishing activities, fishers accounted for 30% of males within the productive age. This fact confirms that the fishing sector plays a significant role in employing members of the community in Palabuhanratu.

Figure 3.8 Composition of the fishing community in Palabuhanratu (PPN Palabuhanratu, 2015)

3.4.3 Fish resources and fishing areas

Palabuhanratu Bay is typical of the southern coast of Java Island being characterised by strong waves. The bay also has a steep seabed, which reaches a depth of 200 metres within a few nautical miles (nm) of the coastline. The centre of the bay is even deeper being more than 2000 metres in depth. The longliners, troll liners, purse seiners, and inboard gillnetters conduct their fishing operations beyond the bay up to 8⁰ S or 9⁰ S, whilst the smaller vessels including handliners, pelagic Danish seiners, outboard gillnetters, trammel netters, and lift netters are concentrated in the shallow waters of the bay (Figure 3.9). The furthest fishing grounds for small vessels are in the waters off Binuangeun and Ujung Genteng.

As shown in Figure 3.6, the major fishing area for fishing vessels based in Palabuhanratu is 573, which shows a difficult situation, as most of the fish resources have been over exploited. The signs of overfishing is also confirmed by the fishers who are aware that fishing operations have become less productive recently and certain species have disappeared. The fact that the status of the fish stocks is at an unsustainable level requires immediate action to reduce the fishing effort. However, it will be challenging, seeing as the fishing sector is economically crucial in Palabuhanratu.

Figure 3.9 Fishing grounds for fishing vessels based in Palabuhanratu (Dishidros, 2004)

However, there is also a common belief among the small-scale fishers that the decrease in productivity is caused by the operation of large fishing vessels at the mouth of the bay, which use fish aggregating devices (FAD), and thus prevent the fish from migrating into the bay. Furthermore, the fishing zone 573 covers a large area which consists of many species. According to Iranawati et al. (2016), fish stock cannot be generalized as genetic closeness is required in order for species to breed, therefore, further investigation of the status of fish stock in Palabuhanratu is necessary in order to perform the best management action.

3.4.4 Fish production

The total amount of fish production at the fishing port in 2015 was roughly 9 million tons. This was one million lower than fish production in 2014, which reached 10 million tons. The largest contribution was from tuna, which accounted for at least 80% of the landed catch. Figure 3.10 shows the composition of fish production in 2015 excluding the tuna caught by longliners. The figure reveals that troll liners and lift netters were the major contributors to fish production. Whilst the main catch of troll liners was large pelagic fish such as tuna and marlin, lift nets primarily catch smaller fish such as anchovies, ponyfish, and small shrimp.

Regarding the productivity of fishing vessels and fishers, the longliner is again leading the chart by landing 70 tons/year/fishing vessel and 7 tons/year/fisher. It is followed by the lift netter which on average is capable of producing 19 tons/year/vessel and 3 tons/year/fisher. As seen in Table 3.2, the lowest productivity is derived from handliner, which lands 0.3 tons/year/vessel and 0.2 tons/year/fisher.

After landing, catches go to various destinations including being sold to the local market or restaurants, to local fish processors and to wholesalers or companies that supply both national and international markets. Fish processing houses located in the region typically produce a variety of products including fish balls, salted fish, boiled fish, and shrimp paste. Cold storage is provided in the fishing port to store fish prior to the distribution to other cities and countries. Cold storage is normally used for storing primary seafood products, such as tuna, bullet tuna, skipjack, and hairtail fish.

Figure 3.10 Distribution of landed fish in Palabuhanratu, excluding tuna (PPN Palabuhanratu, 2015)

Table 3.2 Annual fishing productivity in Palabuhanratu

Fishing fleet Fishing productivity tons/year/vessel tons/year/fisher

Longliner 69.9 7.0

Lift netter 18.9 3.3

Purse seiner 13.5 0.8

Pelagic Danish Seiner 6.3 0.6

Troll liner 4.7 1.0 Gillnetter inboard 1.4 0.4 Trammel Netter 0.5 0.3 Gillnetter outboard 0.4 0.2 Handliner 0.3 0.2 Source: (PPN Palabuhanratu, 2015)

3.4.5 Weather condition and the fishing seasons

As a tropical country, the temperature in Indonesia is relatively constant throughout the year. However, Indonesia experiences two seasons, a dry season (April-September) and a rainy season (October-March) owing to monsoons passing through the region. Monsoons periodically blow from the southeast and northeast of Indonesia and change the wave and current pattern of the ocean, which according to Eveson et al. (2015) affect fish migration. In Indonesia, monsoons form four different seasons namely west monsoon (October-March), east monsoon (April-September), and two transitional seasons (March- April and September-October) which affect fishing patterns, especially in coastal areas (Nontji, 2005).

Figure 3.11 shows the typical weather pattern in Palabuhanratu which was plotted based on data from 2009 to 2015. When the east monsoon blows from April, the rainfall

Figure 3.11 Weather conditions in Palabuhanratu Bay

(Meteorological Climatological and Gheophysical Agency (MCGA), 2016)

decreases and the region experiences a local dry season. The sea condition gradually gets rougher and reaches its peak during the transitional period to the west monsoon, i.e. between September and October. Subsequently, throughout the west monsoon, the rainfall increases and peaks in December and January, followed by an increase in wind speed and waves when the sea conditions are challenging. During the transitional period to the east monsoon, between March and April, the sea weather gradually becomes calmer, whilst the rainfall remains high.

Monsoon activities affect the fish pattern in Palabuhanratu Bay. Throughout the year, the fishers experience peak, moderate and low seasons, which define the fishing effort, the catch and their incomes. Generally, the peak season lasts for 3 months from August to October, followed by a low season from November to March and a moderate season from April to June. However, each fishing operation will have their own seasons depending on the abundance of the particular fish target.