BANGKA – A number of fishermen in Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, got lucky while catching fish in Air Kantung Waters, Bangka Regency, in mid-February last Thursday (17/2/2022).
Several fishing boats are known to have managed to catch several tons of thorn fish in the Air Kantung area which is not far from the location of the PT Timah Tbk dredger which is currently operating in the area.
Kebak, one of Sungailiat fishermen, said that his Putra Tanjung boat managed to catch five tons of thorn fish in the Air Kantung area.
"Yes, that's right, about a week ago if I'm not mistaken, my ship got five tons of thorn fish. Not only my boat, but also several other fishing boats that also caught a lot of thorn fish in the Air Kantung waters," he said when contacted, Tuesday (1/3/2022).
He said that his team had cast nets because they saw fish jumping on the surface. The distance they cast their nets is not far from the beach, even very close to the PT Timah Tbk dredger which is currently operating.
"It's called sustenance, usually we go to sea for up to a week and then we come back. It happened to be passing by to see the fish were jumping around, so they cast the net. Duri fish are not reef fish, which are many on the beach," he said.
Furthermore, he conveyed that in certain seasons there are indeed a lot of these fish in this area. However, all returned to their respective sustenance.
Meanwhile, the Head of the All Indonesian Fishermen's Association of Bangka Regency, Lukman, said that he also received information that several fishermen in Bangka Regency were getting thorn fish at the location of the PT Timah Tbk dredger which was operating.
“I also received information that several fishing boats had caught thorn fish for three days in a row which were not far from the operating vessels. Indeed, this is happen seasonally and this is not the first time," he said.
He said that dredgers that produce production form troughs, these troughs are where the fish play.
"This can be called a symbiosis of mutualism, the habitat of this thorn fish is in a trough, this trough is made by this suction boat which is used as a habitat for this thorn fish," he said.
He said that the thorn fish even came to the surface because there were so many fish that the fishermen immediately caught the fish. However, not all fishermen are because this depends on sustenance and the season.*
