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Relationships between crew (buruh nelayan) and boat owners are cemented by debts. Each crewman usually owes Rp.5,000 or more to the boat owner. In turn the boat owners frequently have debts of Rp.10,000 or more to the shop keepers who outfit their fishing trips.

On smaller boats with a crew of 3 men the owner (juragan) also covers all trip costs including good for the crew (pandega). Usually the juragan receives 60% of the catch while the 3 pandega divide the remaining 40%.

Processing and Marketing:

Processing and marketing of the catch is carried out primarily by women. Approximately 60% of the local catch is processed either by salting (pindang) or by cutting and drying. The remaining 40% is packed in ice and shipped to nearby urban areas, primarily Jakarta. Three types of fish are used to make pindang: ikan bandeng (from the tambaks) and ikan kendarin and ikan tenggiri (from the ocean).

Traders (bakul) supply credit and often market fish processed by villag ewomen. A woman may buy, often on credit, fish for making pindang from the bakul. It is estimated that approximately half of the women of Sungai Buntu are involved in making or marketing pindang. A smaller number of women make krupuk tenggiri or terasi (shrimp paste). If women are making pindang in the home of the bakul they are paid Rp.20 per kg of fish cleaning. When fish processing is depressed during the slack fishing season (musim paceklik) women work in the rice fields.

Marketing of fresh fish to Jakarta appears to be controlled a series of male middlemen who have contacts in the Jakarta markets at Blok M and Pasar Majestic. Women marketing fish locally serve households in the surrounding sub-district and the markets of Pasar Dengklok and Pasar Karawang.

Recent Change

A number of forces have influenced the economy of Sungai Buntu families over the past decade. The introduced of new fishing technology, both nets and boat motors has considerably increased fish yields in the area. Statistics from the fishing cooperative (KUD) for total yearly catch over the past 5 years reflect this growth.

Year     Total Yield (in metric tons)
1978     254 M.T
1979     296 M.T
1980     310 M.T
1981     523 M.T
1982     626 M.T