Class and Conflict in the Fishers' Community in Indonesia

Rilus A. Kinseng Class and Con ict in the Fishers’ Community in Indonesia Buku OBOR Class and Conflict in the Fishers’ Community in Indonesia Rilus A. Kinseng Class and Conflict in the Fishers’ Community in Indonesia Rilus A. Kinseng OBOR Jakarta, Indonesia ISBN 978-981-15-0985-8 ISBN 978-981-15-0986-5 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0986-5 © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Foreword It was a pleasure for me to accept the writer’s request to pen a foreword to his book Fisherman Conflicts. Despite my previous involvement in the early process of the book writing during its preparation as a doctoral dissertation at the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social and Political Science, University of Indonesia (FISIP UI), in 2007, I think it is still necessary for me to read the book for several reasons. Firstly, with the rewriting of the dissertation, in addition to the fact that the book was written during a sabbatical leave in Canada, there must be new insights to be learned, especially in the perspective of theoretical framework with regard to theory of conflict in sociology. Secondly, I believe in the writer’s conviction when he said, “Although the research for the dissertation was conducted in 2006, most of charac- teristics of fisherman classes and conflicts, as well as the arguments and theoretical implication and policies presented in the dissertation are still valid to date and even for sometime in the future.” (Introduction) The conviction turned out to be right, as shown in the following evidence: 1. Kompas, 6 January 2012, reported that: “Trawlers often collided with traditional fishermen’s fixed nets. At least ten traditional fishermen’s nets are hit by the trawlers. Such incidents have been going on since 1978. Fishermen have been reporting them to the marine security officers; however their cases were dismissed on the grounds of lack of evidence. They then decided to take matters into their own hands by punishing the boat crew by themselves and burned down the trawler vessels. On 18 and 26 December 2011, seven trawler vessels were set on fire in Asahan District, North Sumatra.” The incident became a concern for the writer and is described well in this book. However, I would like to reiterate several points of thought that may sound boring, but in emancipatory efforts, the word “bored” does not exist. Why? (1) To be bored in defending the interests of traditional fishermen means letting the capitalists win the rowdy battles without a hitch, not to mention that the battles are taking place in a widely open arena. In the current legal condition of the Unitary State of Indonesia (NKRI), which is more in favor of the upper classes (see the case of flip-flops theft case in Mesuji, Bima, in late v vi Foreword 2011 and early 2012), taking the attitude of being fed up of defending the interests of the lower class simply means giving way to the upper class to raise the flag of triumph. Thus, simply waiting for the destruction of traditional fishermen would not take a very long time given the current state of affairs. (2) The unequal struggles had been going on for more than 33 years (since 1978). Hence, the history of traditional fishermen is a history of defeat, a history of life with little or no protection, a history that consciously let all of the ocean’s resources be taken away from their reach, and a history which the main players are the upper social classes. (3) The burning of trawlers incident in North Sumatra taking place on 18 and 26 December showed us all that the lower class had been totally defeated. Therefore, they would do anything to assert their existence and their entitle- ment to live in the NKRI, although in the end they realized that in the struggle the lower class would not only have to face a huge power that was not only set free by the State, while six of them were still in prison (Kompas, 7 January 2012), but also the domestic power. When there was no one left taking their side, a social conflict was the only logical resolution for them. It was within such context that class conflicts within the marine social struc- ture would be explained. Their hope was that a structural change could enable them to transform their pessimism into optimism of life. (4) Our (the society’s and State’s) failure to stop the trawlers from operating around the Indonesian waters has not only rapidly destroyed the lives of small fishermen but also the breeding grounds for the fish to spawn. What is tragic about this class struggle is that in the long run, it would not simply become the triumph of the upper class in monopolizing the richness of the fish resources in the seas but also means the extinction of the marine biodi- versity as the ultimate “victory.” An empty sea, and every party lost. 2. Kompas, 7 January 2012, ran a report on the process of destruction, without pro- viding the exact information about the total cost of the damage. However, the “head of the Center for Coastal and Marine Studies at Bung Hatta University said the damage to the mangrove ecosystem along the 1,200km-long coast of West Sumatra had resulted in a 60% decrease in the fishermen’s catch in the past 20 years. In the 1990s fishermen around the region of Nagari Mandiangin were able to catch 6 tons of mangrove crabs every month, whereas these days they could only catch 600 kgs every month.” This book explains in detail the small fishermen’s dependence on the coastal waters after being thrown out from the open waters by the owners of the trawlers. However, it was really twice as unfor- tunate for them that after being thrown out from the open sea back to the shores by the trawler and the purse seine vessels, another sophisticated fishing gear. On the shores, they were hit by the destruction of the mangroves. Fish could no lon- ger breed. Foreword vii 3. There is no report yet of what damage climate change has caused to the ocean; however, even without including that factor into the picture, the portrait of and explanation on the tragic fate of the fishermen are already glaringly obvious. However, the question is as follows: Who owns the trawlers? As for the owners of the purse seine fishing boats, the readers will easily find out about who they are in this book. Allow me to add some information to what Dr. Rilus A. Kinseng has written. 1. Obviously, the owners of the trawlers are some rich people from overseas. In the case of the purse seine fishermen mentioned in this book, the owners of the purse seine are not local fishermen either. Trawling is a fishing method technology more than 100% effective since it does not only catch fish but also everything else that gets into the net. Make notes that this is a normal technological develop- ment. So, it is not surprising that Indonesian fishermen also want it. None of them wants to be outdone by the foreign trawler owners. Just look at the sense- less cases in this book. If there is no prohibition by law, undoubtedly, Indonesian fishermen will fall into the (destructive) trend. 2. The fact that there has been no report on fish stolen from the open waters of Indonesia for so long may lead to several hypotheses that could be further proven: (1) Our security system has totally failed and been defeated in dealing with border violations happening in our waters. The assumption is that there is still a significant amount of fish in the sea. (2) Our surveillance system works perfectly (something that is highly unlikely), but the capitalists (which is the writer’s concept) are working in cooperation with the Indonesian fishermen through modifying the mode of production that remains within the limits permitted by law. Or perhaps the mode of production has not changed, but the techniques to camouflage the exploita- tion have been maximized that it is capable of escaping from the law enforcement instruments’ surveillance. The assumption stays the same: there is a lot of fish, and everything works well with the law enforcement.

Load more