The marine aquarium trade has been going on in Indonesia for at least 25 years, providing a source of income for poor coastal villagers throughout the archipelago. But when I have asked the collectors what they think the fish are for, they have only replies “for aquariums” or simply, “I don’t know”. They tell of a time when an outsider – usually a trader – has wandered into their village, shown them some pictures of aquarium fish, and asked them if they could catch them to sell. At first they have been puzzled. The animals sought by the trader are often not edible! Why would anyone want to buy these species?  Therefore to help understand the origins of this trade, I have decided to look at the circumstances and constraints affecting the communities that form the first link in the marine aquarium trade chain.

Being a nation of over 17,500 islands, many of Indonesia’s people live along the coasts and on remote islands. Even in relatively well-developed areas, including the nation’s capital, Jakarta the coastal dwellers have few or no modern facilities. Having almost no sanitation, health facilities or education opportunities, birth and mortality rates among this sector are high. The fishing communities are among the poorest, most disadvantaged in the country. Owning no land, and possessing no farming skills, the people rely on subsistence fishing – catching a few fish to eat or barter that same day – as their only sources of food and income. Around Indonesia’s coasts, food fishermen can often be seen going out to sea in tiny dugout “jukung” (outrigger canoes) or dugouts, armed only with a pair of home-made goggles and a bag. The goggles are made from carved wooden frames, with pieces of glass set into them and held in place using tree resin. The goggles are held in place on the collectors head with a strip of rubber cut from an inner tube. Sometimes the fishermen are armed with a simple spear gun, which looks like a roughly carved ‘rifle’ with a sharpened bicycle spoke for a spear, and attached with more strips of inner tube. Using these simple implements, many species of fish can be speared as the diver holds his breath.

Other organisms, including lobsters, oysters and other marine molluscs, are simply picked up from the seabed, placed in a bag, and brought to the surface. Many of these creatures are killed during capture, and then sold as quickly as possible. A major limiting factor for the fishermen is that their villages have no electricity, and there are no refrigeration facilities. Therefore, unless they can buy ice blocks form an ice factory, the fish need to be sold very quickly before they start to decompose in the tropical heat. Alternatively, the catch is laid out on bamboo racks along the beach, to dry in the sun. Soaking the fish in brine (salt) and then drying helps to further preserve the fish. (A student I once worked with discovered that up to 80% of the dried fish had been sprayed with the insecticide B***** to keep the flies away!). At low tide, men, women and children take part in the practice known as ‘meting’; wandering around on the reef flat collecting whatever marine organisms they find trapped in the pools of water left by the receding tide. Sea slugs, octopus, crabs and even polychaete worms (such as the ‘Nyale’ worms of Sumba) are collected and taken home. Pump-action kerosene lamps (“Petromax”) extend the collecting time on the reef flat until after dark, and these are also used on the huge numbers of offshore bamboo platforms (bagan apung) to attract squid and fish. From the foregoing account it can be imagined how difficult life is for the coastal communities. In the next article, I will try to explain how some of the fishermen become collectors for the marine aquarium trade, and how their lives may be affected by this change.