Fishermen in choppy waters

Fishermen’s spot: The jetty at Kampung Pendas Laut in Gelang Patah, Johor, is the landing point for coastal fishermen from nearby villages. — Photos: THOMAS YONG/The Star

FROM time immemorial, fishermen in Johor have relied on their knowledge of the weather, including the phases of the moon and tides, before going out to sea.

Faidarus Abd Rahim, 40, recalled when he first became a coastal fisherman at the age of 20, he learned from veteran fishermen how to study weather patterns.

“This knowledge has been passed down from father to son and most of the time, it has proven to be useful,” he said when met at Kampung Pendas Laut in Gelang Patah, Johor.

Faidarus said he had become better over the years through personal experience at gauging the best time to head out to sea.“We look at the moon, stars and wind patterns to determine if we will land a good catch.

“Fishes usually search for food at sunrise and sunset. They are active for one to two hours when the sun rises and when it sets.

“So, these are the best times for us to fish,” he said.

However, he lamented that over the years, climate change had thrown weather patterns in disarray hence affecting fishermen’s livelihoods.

A Kampung Pendas Laut fisherman mending his net after returning from sea.

“In the past, I could easily bring home about 30kg of fish after three to four hours at sea but now my catch has dropped by almost half,” said Faidarus.

He said fishermen now had to go out 20km further to land a better catch, unlike previously when they could fish about 5km from the village.

Fellow fisherman Haron Basiron said even the crab population in the waters of Gelang Patah had dwindled drastically in the past decade.

“I used to get 40kg of flower crabs. Now, I consider myself lucky if I can get 3kg,” he said.

Haron said there were days when the seawater was at the right temperature, not too warm or too cold, for fish to come closer to the shore.

He said squid season used to be from February to April but it had since changed to May to July.

As for catching prawns, he said September used to be a fruitful time but their season had shifted to January for the past two years.

The 63-year-old, who has been a fisherman for 36 years, said coastal development projects in the Gelang Patah area had contributed to the dwindling marine life.

Coastal fisherman Junaidi Ali and his son Azlee going through the day’s catch at Kampung Pendas Laut in Gelang Patah. — THOMAS YONG/The Star

“Years ago, there was an oil spill from a ship in waters off Gelang Patah and fishermen could not go out to sea for three months,’’ said Haron.

Former fisherman Ismail Md Said, 72, said 30 minutes to an hour before the sun rises was the best time for fishermen as fishes were active during that period.

“They feed in a frenzy and most of them end up in our nets,” said Ismail who became a fisherman when he was 13 years old.

He said the feeding frenzy peaked during full moon or a new moon and normally fishermen would land a good catch during this time.

Ismail, who called it a day in 1984 but still regularly meets with fellow fishermen at Kampung Pendas Laut, has noticed that their catch is getting less.

“Now they depend on luck,’’ he said.