South China Sea: Natuna Island fishermen call for protection of disputed seas

PHOTO: Fisherman Idris, 42, untangles a rope in his boat off the Natuna islands.
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At the very top of Indonesia's sprawling archipelago sits a group of islands at the forefront of an intensifying dispute with China over the South China Sea.

Key points:

• Natuna's nearby seas causing dispute between China and Indonesia
• Local fishermen say they cannot compete with Chinese trawlers
• Fishermen want Indonesian Government to ensure waters are protected

The picture-perfect Natuna Islands in Indonesia's far north are not under dispute, but it is the nearby seas that are causing tension with Beijing.

The ABC travelled to the islands and onto nearby waters, where fishermen are urging the Indonesian Government to protect their rights as China tests the boundaries.

Idris, 42, has worked as a fisherman for more than half his life using traditional methods, by catching his own fish and never using a net.

He refused to refer to the waters as the South China Sea.

"Well, on a map it says South China Sea but I don't know that," he told the ABC.

"For me I only know this as the Natuna Sea. We go fishing here because it is our waters. We don't know what the South China Sea is."

But powerful China, 3,000 kilometres to the north, sees it very differently.

Its so-called Nine Dash Line, large areas of the South China Sea that China claims as its traditional waters, reaches as far as Natuna Islands.

Indonesia says the islands and surrounding seas are within its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).

Syahrizal, 42, has been fishing most of his life, and in the Natuna area for the past six years.

"I'm so upset, upset because I've worked in Natuna for a long time and now China is claiming that these are its waters," he said.

"Of course I'm very angry because our catch can't compete with what they've got using their trawls."

PHOTO: Many fishermen on the Natuna Islands use traditional methods to secure their catch.

'We are the people of Natuna here'

Twice this year Beijing has protested after Indonesia moved to confiscate Chinese fishing boats and detain their crews for fishing in Indonesian waters.

China says the boats were in its traditional fishing grounds and demanded the release of their nationals.

Indonesia did not comply.

In March, a Chinese coastguard boat tried to intervene when a fishing boat was being towed away by the Indonesian Navy.

In the second incident, the Navy last month fired warning shots as a second Chinese boat tried to get away. Its eight Chinese crew are still being detained by the Navy in the Natuna capital, Ranai. The ABC was denied access to see them.

The head of the local Sabang Mawang fishing village, Zakaria, told the ABC the Indonesian Government must ensure the waters are protected to safeguard the communities and their livelihoods.

"So please, the Government must find a solution so that China doesn't claim Natuna waters to be theirs.

"That's what we want the central Government to do, that's what we want."

PHOTO: The picture-perfect Natuna Islands have become a flashpoint in the dispute between Indonesia and China.

Technology makes it impossible for local fishermen to compete

Natuna Islands are situated in between the north western tip of Borneo and the southern tip of Vietnam.

Beijing has already willingly acknowledged the islands belong to Indonesia, so unlike with the Spratly Islands off the Philippines, the dispute with China relates only to the nearby waters.

Deden Rizaldi, 54, works to sort fish for sale on one of Natuna's sleepier villages that survives purely off the trade.

"In my opinion we have exclusive economic zone 11 miles from the open sea and that means the Chinese have breached our sovereignty," he said.

"As the son of a nation, I'm angry about this."

He told the ABC the Chinese fishermen use far more sophisticated fishing methods, making it impossible for locals to compete.

"It's a big difference because most of our fishermen use traditional boats, while the Chinese have sophisticated boats and have various methods of fishing," he said.

The Indonesian Government has played down the tension as nothing more than a spat over illegal fishing.

But, like it or not, the powers in the capital Jakarta have been thrust into the South China Sea dispute they had tried for so long to avoid.

Vietnam, China, Malaysia have eyes on the prize

Explore the conflicting territorial claims in the South China Sea

Based on the EEZ, the Philippines has the strongest claim on the Spratlys and their resources, with its EEZ covering much of the area. 

However the lure of resources, and prospect of exerting greater control over shipping in the region, means that greater powers are contesting the Philippines' claims.

(Source : abc.net.au)

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