CLIMATE WITNESS: PAK AZHAR, INDONESIA
I have been living in Balikukup since 1999. Balikukup is a small island of 18 ha consisting mainly of sandbanks. However, the island’s size is not fixed as it depends on the tides. During low tide, a large sandbank is exposed, extending 1 km towards the sea.
The weather is a significant factor in the work of a sea cucumber fisherman
I started collecting sea cucumbers in 2001. There are 2 ways to catch sea cucumbers; some fishermen just search on the beaches around the island during low tide at night, while others dive underwater, down to depths of 10 m.
Sea cucumber fishermen are highly dependent on the weather to do their job. Fishermen cannot catch good harvests during rainy or stormy weather, as sea cucumbers hide underneath the sand during that time. Therefore, it is important for a sea cucumber fisherman to predict what the weather will be like before going to work.
Unpredictable weather
Usually I observe the weather at dusk or in the early evening to predict whether it is going to rain or be stormy at night. But nowadays, it is getting harder to predict the weather accurately. For example, early evening yesterday I predicted that there would be no rain at night, but around midnight and early morning heavy rain came down.
In the old days, we fishermen could predict the weather. But not anymore. The elders on our island also mentioned the same thing. Since 2002, Atang, one of the fisherman elders whom we regard as the best expert in predicting the weather in Balikukup, said that the weather was getting unpredictable. Before, Atang could produce a very good prediction, even for the course of a full year.
‘Bulan janda’ or Widow month
One example of unpredictable weather is the gone phenomena of ‘bulan janda’, or ‘widow month’. It is called widow-month because when the fishermen went to the sea during the event, they rarely came home safely. Thus, their wives became widows. Widow month is an annual event when the wind blows very strongly for 44 days from the south. This wind stops for a short period of time (half an hour), and then goes back to blowing very hard. During that time it is impossible for fishermen to go at sea.
Fishermen who had saved enough money and food supply did not need to go at sea during ‘widow month’ because the conditions were too dangerous. However, other fishermen had no other option but to go to sea during the event.
The phenomenon of ‘widow month’ does not exist anymore. The last time it happened was in 1991 according to fishermen. After 1991, during the supposedly ‘widow-month’, there could be calm periods for up to 2 weeks. None of the fishermen understands why the ‘widow month’ phenomenon has slowly disappeared.
No clue when money will come
The unpredictable weather is a disadvantage for us fishermen because we no longer know when we can go fishing. It is difficult for us to predict when we will make money. Before, we could estimate when was the right time to make income and put some money on the side, as we could predict when we can go fishing. Now, whenever we have good weather, we just go fishing. We can no longer make financial plans.
