Indonesia: Worst tidal flooding in decade hurts Java's fish farmers

An ocean wave floods a road near the northern coast of Pekalongan in Central Java on May 23. - Antara Photo via The Jakarta Post/ANN

JAKARTA, June 18 (Jakarta Post/ANN): Syaifullah Mahdi, 45, a fish farmer from Gresik, East Java, said he and his fellow smallholders had not expected to lose all of their fish after a tidal flood hit the northern coast of Java in May.

Mahdi and other villagers have been cultivating milkfish for years in fishponds near the coast in Pangkah Wetan village. Tidal floods had long been part of their lives, but this event was unprecedented.