Boats to Burn: Bajo Fishing Activity in the Australian Fishing Zone
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Boats to Burn
Bajo Fishing Activity in the Australian Fishing Zone
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Conventions
Chapter 1: Contested Rights of Access
Chapter 2: Bajo Settlement History
Origin and Dispersion of the Sama-Bajau
The Tukang Besi Islands
Bajo Settlements in the Tukang Besi Islands
The Villages of Mola Utara and Mola Selatan
Other Bajo Settlements
The History of Bajo Settlement in the Tukang Besi Islands
The Kahar Muzakkar Rebellion and Bajo Migration
The Village of Pepela, Roti Island
Bajo Settlement at Pepela
Chapter 3: The Maritime World of the Bajo
Bajo World Views
Supernatural Beings
Magic and Ritual
Concepts of the Soul
‘Custom’ (
Adat
)
Maritime Livelihoods
The Monsoon Regime
The Local Fishing Economy
Distant Shore Fishing Activities
Ngambai Net Fishing
Maritime Technology
Rituals of Boat Construction
Joining the Keel, Stem and Stern Posts
The Drilling of the Navel and Ritual Launching
Chapter 4: Bajo Voyages to the Timor Sea
Macassans, Malays and Europeans in Northern Australia
The Bajo Encounter with Tuan Robin
The Bajo Encounter with British Airmen in 1936
Bajo Fishing in the Timor Sea Before World War II
The Bajo Encounter with Australian Scientists in 1949
Bajo Fishing Activity in the Northwest, 1950s–1970s
Chapter 5: Australian Maritime Expansion
Australian Government Perspectives in the Post-War Period
New Bilateral Arrangements with Indonesia
The 1974 Memorandum of Understanding
Australian Enforcement of the MOU
Extension of the Australian Fishing Zone
The Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve
Amendments to the 1974 MOU
Apprehension, Detention and Confiscation, 1985–95
The Institutional Regime
Apprehensions in Darwin and Broome 1985–93
Policy Reviews in the Mid-1990s
Chapter 6: Bajo Responses to Australian Policy
The Growing Focus on Sharks
Bajo Perceptions of Australian Policy
Shark Fins and Longlines
Chapter 7: Sailing, Fishing and Trading in 1994
Preparations for Departure
Owners, Captains and Crew
Ritual Preparations
The Day of Departure
The Bajo Fleet in Pepela
The Fishing Grounds
Navigation Techniques
Fishing Methods
Fishing Rituals
The Economics of Shark Fishing
The Trader-Bosses of Pepela
Grading and Marketing Shark Fin
Credit and Profits
Financial Independence and Indebtedness
The Risk and Cost of Apprehension
Chapter 8: An Evaluation of Australian Policy
What is ‘Traditional’ Activity?
‘Traditional’ Activities in the MOU
The Case of the Karya Abadi
Commerce and Tradition
How Effective is Australian Policy?
The Australian Aid Program
The Record of Apprehensions
New Policy Approaches
A Licensing System
Reasons for Inaction
The Way Forward
Appendix A: Sources on Indonesian Fishing in Australian Waters
Appendix B: Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of Australia and the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Regarding the Operations of Indonesian Traditional Fishermen in Areas of the Australian Exclusive Fishing Zone and Continental Shelf (7 November 1974)
Appendix C: Agreed Minutes of Meeting Between Officials of Australia and Indonesia on Fisheries (29 April 1989)
Memorandum of Understanding of 1974
North West Coast of Australia
Arafura Sea
Fishing in waters between Christmas Island and Java and other waters
Wildlife Cooperation
Consultations
Annex I: Co-ordinates of MOU Area (‘The Box’)
Annex II: Practical Guidelines for Implementing the 1974 MOU
References
Index
List of Figures
Map 2-1: Area in which Sama-Bajau speakers are found in Southeast Asia.
Map 2-2: Settlements in the Tukang Besi Islands, Southeast Sulawesi Province.
Plate 2-1: The villages of Mola Utara and Mola Selatan, Wanci Island.
Plate 2-2: The mosque and houses along the main canal in Mola Selatan.
Plate 2-3: Houses lining a narrow canal in central Mola Utara.
Plate 2-4: Recently built houses on the northern end of Mola Utara.
Plate 2-5: Low tide in Mantigola.
Map 2-3: The island of Roti, East Nusa Tenggara Province.
Plate 2-6: The Bajo settlement at Tanjung Pasir.
Plate 3-1: Healer restoring the
sumangaq
of a sick person.
Plate 3-2: A
perahu lambo
.
Plate 3-3: A
perahu layar motor
.
Figure 3-1: Types of Indonesian
perahu
hull forms and rigs.
Figure 3-2: Stem, keel and stern post layout and order of joining.
Plate 3-4: Gathering for prayers before drilling the navel for a
perahu motor
.
Plate 3-5: Preparing to launch the boat into the water.
Map 4-1: Key locations in northern Australia.
Map 5-1: Location of permitted areas of access for Indonesian fishermen in the Australian Fishing Zone under the 1974 Memorandum of Understanding.
Map 5-2: Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve.
Map 5-3: Areas of prohibited access at Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve.
Figure 5-1: AFMA Classification of Indonesian
perahu
types found operating in Australian waters.
Plate 5-1: The recreation building and accommodation block at Willie Creek.
Plate 5-2: Navy officers inspecting the catch of the Wisma Jaya, 1990.
Plate 5-3: Bajo crew confined to their
perahu lambo
in Darwin Harbour.
Plate 5-4: Confiscated
perahu lambo
driven into the embankment in Darwin.
Plate 5-5: Boats dragged out of the water onto the land.
Plate 5-6: Boats destroyed by burning.
Map 6-1: Bajo shark fishing grounds.
Plate 6-1: A Mola Bajo fisherman photographed in August 1974.
Plate 6-2: First Bajo house built on Tanjung Pasir, November 1992.
Figure 6-1: Types of cuts of black shark fin.
Figure 6-2: Diagram of a set longline and its components.
Plate 7-1: Prayers performed before moving a
perahu lambo
from the village.
Plate 7-2: Moving the boat through the canal into the harbour.
Plate 7-3: A prayer at the rudder stock and tiller of the Tunas Muda.
Plate 7-4: Bajo
perahu lambo
anchored off Tanjung Pasir, October 1994.
Plate 7-5: Setting sail from Pepela.
Plate 7-6: Bajo sailing to Mola in early December 1994.
Plate 7-7: Squally west monsoon conditions on the return voyage to Mola.
Figure 7-1: Sixteen-point Bajo wind compass.
Figure 7-2: Location and names of shark fins.
Plate 7-8: A set of black shark fins.
Plate 7-9: A set of white shark fins.
Figure 8-1: Total number of boat apprehensions and total number of Type 2 boat apprehensions, 1975–97.
Map 8-1: International maritime boundaries in the Timor and Arafura seas.