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results in underemployment and little or no income for family primarily dependent on fishing, proceeding, and marketing for a living.

In Sungai Buntu many families appear to borrow heavily during the dry season.

Currently four major technologies are used for sea fishing. These include gill nets for medium size fish in deep water, which is the most popular fishing technique.  The second most widely practiced method is shrimp and prawn fishing near the coastline. The third and fourth methods are jaring tembang net fishing for small fish and jaring payung net fishing for large fish.

Generally sailing perahus with outboard motors are used. The large boats usually carry a crew of 13 men. The catch is divided into shares which are distributed among the crew and owner according to the following pattern:

[[4 columns]]
  | Number of Shares | Number of Indiv. | % of Catch
Boat owner | - 7 shares | 1 |   30%
Helmsman | - 3 shares | 1 (often boat owner) | 13%
Head net operator | - 2 shares | 1 | 9%
Net pullers | - 1 share | 9 | 38%
Anchor man (juru batu) | - 1.5 shares | 1 | 6%
Net holder (umbal - child of less than 15 years). | - 1 share | 1 | 4%
  |  |  | 100%
[[/4 columns]]

The boat owner is responsible for supplying the crew with the following articles:

Supplies Purchased by Boat Owner for One-day Trip
[[3 columns]]
3 packets cigarettes | = | Rp. 750
20 1 of diesel fuel | = | 3,500
2 1 of kerosene for lamps | = | 300
2 lamp mantels | = | 150
2 lamp glass | = | 300
Total Cost | = | Rp.5,000
[[/3 columns]]

Consequently, while the boat owner must pay for the material costs of the trip, if he steers the boat (which is a frequent practice), he will receive 43% of the catch versus 4% for a regular crew member. It would be useful to examine whether this difference accurately reflects the overhead of the boat owner while allowing him a reasonable profit or the unjust exploitation of a surplus labor market. Boat owners complain that they also experience labor shortages when crew members go home to the villages to assist with the rice harvest or visit relatives.