Bajo Fishing in the Timor

Aside from the two encounters already described, personal recollections of Bajo men aged between 65 and 80 years document a range of activities in the Timor and Arafura seas in the period before World War II.

In Dutch times [waktu Balanda], black shark fin had a price of around 15 ringgit a kilogram in Dutch money. We used to sell the fin in Kupang. White lontar shark had a higher price, up to 50 ringgit a kilogram (Si Mbaga, Mola Selatan).

During Dutch times, when I was still young and before I was married, I sailed to Ashmore Reef and Scott Reef. We sailed to Ashmore Reef in a perahu called Saniasa owned by Mbo Kandora from Mantigola. It was a big boat, 80-tonne capacity with two masts, gaff sails, one rudder. The perahu had no cabin only an awning made from coconut fronds. We fished using a net [ngambai] and used poison [tuba] to catch the fish. We got lots of fish and sold it in Makassar. One share was 40 ringgit per person. One time we collected trepang and cooked it in sea water, the same as the Raas people [Madurese]. At Ashmore Reef we always met Dutch and Australian people; they didn’t bother us — it was permitted [bebas] to catch fish, trepang, trochus, and turtle shell in those times. We could sail close to the coast of Australia and it was not forbidden, we were not disturbed or apprehended; they only ordered us to return to Indonesia. At Ashmore Reef there were also lots of fishermen from Raas. One time the Raas people had run into the reef and made a hole in the hull of their perahu. We gave them a plank of wood to repair the damaged one. One time we sailed from Mantigola to Dobo [Aru Islands] to fish for shark using shark rattles and handlines. From Dobo we sailed for one and a half days until we reached our fishing grounds. We sold the shark in Makassar for 5 rupiah per kilo. After the Japanese period I did not go sailing to Ashmore Reef or Scott Reef again (Si Kiramang, Mola Utara).

During Dutch times we went net fishing at Scott Reef. We could fill eight canoes with fish in one go. At the edge of the reef we used to fish for shark with shark rattles [gorogoro]. We still fished there after Japanese times. At that time people from Pepela used to fish at Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island [Pulau Baru] in sekoci [a type of small perahu] for trochus and trepang — they were divers (Si Subung, Mola Selatan).

Even in Dutch times we exchanged balur [salted strips of dried shark meat] with Pepela people for sugar [gula air made from lontar palm]. So while net fishing we would also take sharks at the reef but the price of fins was not very high — fish had a much better price. We used longlines [pissi borroh] with 10 hooks, 5 depa long, made from tree bark [bagu] on the edge of the reef for shark. Like trochus, shark did not have a price then. We used to take cassava instead of rice and use poison to stun the fish (Si Pallu, Mola Selatan).

We used to fish at Ashmore Reef, Scott Reef, Adele Island [Pulau Haria], Rowley Shoals [Pulau Bawah Angin] for fish, trochus, trepang, from before the time Japan invaded Indonesia, when it was still Dutch times. The fishing gear used was ngambai, we used to catch lots of fish. In those times the net was made from tree bark before nylon. We made the net ourselves. We bought the tree bark from Buton. We pounded it until it was soft. At that time we made sails from tree bark. We made fish hooks from iron rods. At Ashmore Reef, if we went to get drinking water we used to step on the birds’ eggs — there were so many. We used to collect the fresh eggs and eat them on the perahu, especially if we were constipated. There was water on all three islands and lots of rats. We used longlines near to Scott Reef. We also used shark rattles and when the shark emerged we caught it with a baited line. After we finished fishing we sold our catch in Kupang, Kalabahi [Alor], or Maumere [Flores]. Some people also sold their catch in Mola, Makassar, Ambon — wherever there was a town that required salted or dried fish (Si Badolla, Mola Selatan).

As well as reef fish caught using netting gear and fish poison, these narratives show that the Bajo pursued other marine products during this period, including shark, trepang, trochus shell, and turtle shell. Of particular interest was shark fin. Shark was caught around Scott Reef using small set longlines as well as handlines and shark rattles. Some species of shark commanded a higher price than others. According to Si Kiramang, during Dutch times some Bajo also undertook specific shark fishing voyages to fishing grounds located south of the Aru Islands in the Arafura Sea. The catch from these voyages was later sold by Bajo to traders in a number of towns throughout Indonesia.

Voyaging to the Timor Sea by Bajo and other Indonesians was interrupted during World War II due to the Japanese invasion of Indonesia in 1942 (Crawford 1969: 130). During the occupation, perahu shipping was strictly controlled and utilised by the Japanese for the war effort. Many perahu were lost or destroyed resulting in a shortage after the war (Dick 1975: 79). Fighting between Japanese and Australian forces in the Timor Sea also deterred any fishing activity (Crawford 1969: 130). Ashmore Reef may have been used for bombing practice, and survival equipment and food caches were stored on the island (ANPWS 1989: 13). ^[13] Serventy (1952: 13) made enquiries among Australian personnel operating in the Timor Sea and reported that no Indonesian fishing activity was observed during the war.

The Bajo recall waktu Jepang (the time of the Japanese) as a time of hardship and suffering. Some of the older men can still recite the Japanese national anthem or a few words of Japanese. Some, like La Ode Ndoke, were forced to work in road gangs on Buton. Si Nurdin from Mola Selatan recalls that he was on a perahu returning from Kupang, where he had been attending school, when the boat was boarded by Japanese soldiers. The crew were taken to Bau Bau, accused of being Dutch spies and sentenced to seven years jail. Si Nurdin spent 14 months in jail until he was released at the end of the war and returned to Mantigola. He still has a prisoner number branded on one forearm.