Seaside Fishpond

It was Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 8:00 AM in Kamal Muara area of the Jakarta Coastline. I planned to go to the mangrove forest area about 3 kilometers away to take pictures and take a closer look of the wildlife reservation to share with the readers of this blog. We plan to have a small expedition around the forest.
I, myself, my wife and some of our niece and nephews headed for the mangrove forest after having a nice fried rice breakfast made by my mother-in-law.
When we stepped out of the house, the fish market is still crowded by people. It's a national holiday so a lot of people came to the area to buy some fish or even to have a fishing trip with the local fisherman.
We headed to the bridge going to the the mangrove forest and we can see the fishermen's boats at the port behind the fish market. The fishermen usually came to the fish market at around 2AM and sell their fishes to the seller in the market. On the other side of the bridge, we can see the small river and the Kamal Muara stadium, a multifunction stadium that has been abandoned for a long time.
The bridge heading to the mangrove forest is a stone bridge at the size of a single car. So, if two cars wants to pass at the same time, one should wait first. The bridge is quite steep and I have to put more gas in to pass the bridge. But then it's worth it. The view on top of the bridge was beautiful.

The port and sea view from the top of the bridge

When you have crossed the bridge, you will see a lot of fishpond, locally known as "empang". These fishpond were made to fulfill the fish supply and also for people whose hobby is fishing but doesn't like to go fishing to the sea. From there we met the t-junction and followed the road to the right, heading for the mangrove forest. The dirt road is a bit slippery thanks to the rain the day before. So, we rode and rode and rode until we saw a problem at the road ahead...the road was FLOODED!!!

We could not continue our journey as there were no other ways heading to the mangrove forest. It was also at low-tide so the forest was not reachable by boats. And so I decided to learn more about the fishpond around.

The fishpond area is about 15 square hectares wide with several owners owning different ponds. The fish breed in the pond varies among different types with the "bandeng" and "mujair" fish being the majority in the ponds. One fishpond can contain up to 3,000 fishes on varied sizes. Most of these ponds are open for land fishers. The fishers can be charged in two different ways, daily charge and charge based on the weight of the fish caught during the day. You can see an example at the signboard displayed on the picture below.

Most of the fishponds already have their own customers and also supplies fish to certain markets. If you want to come and fish here, you better come early in the morning at around 6 or 7 AM and then starts fishing. I recommend fishing at the fishpond for you who are eager to fish but are prone to sea sick. The activity is fun and can relieve your stress. The cost that you have to spend is also relatively cheap. For a standard daily fishing session you'll only be charged around IRD 50,000 - IDR 100,000 and usually around IDR 15,000 - IDR 25,000 per kilograms of fish you caught during the day.


In the fishpond area, you can also find a research instalation for gulf fisheries. If you're interested in researching, you can come there and get some information, especially about those in the Kamal Muara area. The research installation studies both the fishes in the sea and in the fishponds around the gulf area. It is funded by the Department of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (Departemen Kelautan dan Perikanan).

If you're considering to have a new hobby, consider fishing. If you're prond to seasick then fish in the fishpond around the area. The area is easy to get to. It's near the airport. Just take the toll road heading to the Soekarno-Hatta airport and take the Kamal exit. From there head to Dadap and then head to the Kamal Muara area. When you see the Kamal Muara Stadium and fishponds nearby, you're there.

By the way, remember that the fish market is nearby. So if you end up empty handed at the end of the day, just visit the fish market and buy your fish there so you wont go home empty handed :)

My wife wearing white shirt in the middle with my nieces and nephews

It's already 11:00 AM and we have other activities to do. So, we decided to head home. We'll try visiting the mangrove forest at other time, when it's not flooded and I'll show you the fascinating biodiversity there. For now, I'm showing you the fishpond area, how it adds up to the supply of the fishes we consume daily and how you can have a nice hobby at the coast area even when you're prone to seasick.

So, for now I bid you farewell from the fishpond area and looking forward to more journeys around the area.
Enjoy your trip and see you at the coast!!


Fauzan Erich Emmerling
follow me on twitter @femmerling