The Local wisdom to get sea products is actually still implemented by fishermen in the coastal regions of the Indonesian archipelago. Some of them have been conducted by the sea tribes on the island of Bangka and the local fishermen in Brebes, Central Java.
The Suku Laut (Sea Tribe) is one of the tribes that inhabit the sea of Riau, Bangka and Belitung. Because they often live on the boat, they are regularly called as boat people. Eventually the Sea Tribe took the sea products only to fulfill their life necessities, not to exploit the sea. It can be seen from the simplicity of tools used for fishing. The simplicity is not due to limited resources and technological knowledge. However, difficulties to fish are adapted in accordance ith the knowledge and challenges of nature in determining a strategy to maintain their existence. "The cultural knowledge is used to anticipate their fishing activity and the sea is the only alternative that can support not only physical, but the totality of inner life source," said Mulyanto, Sriwijaya University (UNSRI) sociologist, at the National Conference of Indonesia Maritime Sovereignty Panel Discussion held at the UGM Graduate School, Friday (14/5).
Based on his research, the Sea Tribe frequently moves from island to island. Some of them are on the small island of Bangka, such as Lepar Island, Pongok, and islands around the South China Sea. "They have settled in the Island of Pongok. The tribe chief is a woman. They were given assistance to build houses, but still they live and build the houses on the beach," he explained.
In his opinion, the Sea Tribe still relies on stars to determine the direction of the boat while fishing. Let alone to use more advanced technology, they had even never seen devices such as a compass. "They fall behind in technology, but their wisdom on the ocean makes them content to life as a sailor. That's the Sea Tribe. Their life is simple, innocent, and honest, but people from other societies consider them primitive, poor, and stubborn," he added.
Meanwhile, lecturer of University of Diponegoro (Undip), Achmad Sahri, said scallop shells are important fish commodities in Brebes. These commodities have been successfully supplied to Jakarta to be exported to some countries, such as Singapore, Taiwan, and Hongkong.
Based on the experience of the local fishing communities, shellfish scallop fishing is only done at certain seasons, The research by the Undip team showed that fishing done not in the right season will not produce much in terms of size and number. In fact, from 15 fishing stations on the northern ocean of Java, only four stations are known to have a large number of scallop shell. "During the fishing season, it is required a minimum of 5.5 cm in length. While when not in season, it has even not met the local market demand, as the number and weight do not meet the criteria of the market,“ he said.