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Lebak, Banten Province (ANTARA News) - Fishermen in Lebak District, Banten, have complained about their meager fish catches lately due to continuing bad weather conditions marked by strong winds, rain or huge waves in the Indian Ocean.

"We were mostly forced to stay at home over the last two months because weather conditions at sea remained unfavorable, so our fish catches dwindled drastically," Ode (45), a local fishermen, said at a fish market here Thursday.

The fishermen said they could hardly get any fish because of strong winds, rain and huge waves at night in the Indian Ocean.

Besides, the bad weather was dangerous for fishermen, he said.

He said he had to sell his belongings to buy food for his family.

"I recently sold my television set to meet our daily needs," he said.

Another fisherman, Keong (25), told a similar story as he had been unable to fish in the open sea due to bad weather during the past two months.

"We have been able to catch only small fish that sell at very low prices," he said.

Rohman (55), a Panggarangan fisherman, also in Lebak District, said he had switched to farming to earn a living, because fishing with very low fish catches was not profitable.

"Every time I have to fish in the sea, I have to spend Rp40,000 on fuel, while I just manage to get Rp20,000 to Rp30,000 from selling the fish," he said.

Around 2,912 fishermen and fishery workers in Lebak are now jobless due to the drastic decline in fish catches, according to Ade Supriatman, secretary of the Lebak chapter of the Indonesian Fishermen`s Association.

"I am very much concerned about he local fishermen`s economic condition as their fish catches have decreased sharply during the past few months," he said.

Meanwhile, a marine and fisheries official said recently the prevailing climate change phenomena had affected Indonesia`s fishery industry and caused fish catches to drop.
(Uu.F001/HAJM/P003)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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