Oceans of Crime: Maritime Piracy and Transnational Security in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh

2. Piracy and Fishers: Attacks on Small Craft in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh

Piracy and Fishers 55 2 PIRACY AND FISHERS Attacks on Small Craft in Southeast Asia and Bangladesh Simply stated, some pirates may be sometimes fishermen, but not all fishermen are sometimes pirates. Hon Richard D. Vine, Director, Bureau of Refugee Programs, U.S. Department of State1 INTRODUCTION Noni Gapal was born in 1964 in Chittagong district and fr om early childhood went out to sea on his family’s fishing vessel. He learned the essential fishing skills from his father, but was unable to go to school to learn how to read and write. In 1989, Noni Gapal married a local girl and his family expanded, with his wife giving birth in rapid succession to two sons and a daughter . To support his family , Noni Gapal worked as a fisherman. He had r eceived two Hilsha (Tenualosa ilisha) nets fr om his father and initially hir ed a boat to fish, but was shortly able to buy additional nets and a boat with money he borr owed from a fishing association. In April 2003, while fishing, Noni Gapal was attacked by pirates who stole his valuable nets and seriously injured him. To cover the costs of his medical treatment, and to support his family while he r ecovered 02 Oceans_Crime Ch 2 12/14/10, 2:49 PM 55 56 Oceans of Crime from injury, Noni Gapal was for ced to sell his fishing boat. Left without nets and boat, he now works as a day labour er, pulling rickshaws for a minimum wage. Noni Gapal still dreams about returning to the sea in his own boat with four fishing nets — once piracy is eradicated. 2 Noni Gapal’s experiences show that pirate attacks on fishers can have very different consequences for a victim’s life than comparable attacks on the crew of merchant vessels. In both cases, the attack itself can be extr emely frightening and traumatic for the victims, but in attacks on fishing vessels, the victims often lose not only their catch, equipment, and/or boat, but also their sour ce of livelihood. Furthermor e, the victims of attacks on small craft such as fishing boats or yachts ar e invariably confronted by the perpetrators directly. Injuries and the killings of victims ar e, therefore, more common in these attacks. This chapter provides an analytical overview of attacks on yachts and fishing boats from the 1970s onwar ds, with emphasis placed on attacks occurring after 1990. Particular attention is paid to attacks involving fishermen, either as victims or as assailants, in Bangladesh, the Malacca Strait, and in the waters between Sabah and the southern Philippines. ATTACKS ON AND BY FISHERS SINCE THE LATE 1970s While fishing boats, including traditional sailing vessels as well as modern mechanized trawlers, are arguably most affected by contemporary piracy , the majority of these attacks ar e not reported to local authorities or the IMB. Victims of such attacks are reluctant to report incidents out of fear of revenge by the pirates, a lack of education, or because the fishers concerned believe that reporting an attack would be of no r eal advantage to them. Furthermore, fishermen may be r eluctant to report an attack that occurred in waters where they were not permitted to fish, such as national marine parks or those of a for eign country. Consequently, no systematic data collection exists that covers attacks on fishing vessels in Southeast Asia or Bangladesh, with the exception of the statistics compiled for attacks in the Gulf of Thailand on the V ietnamese Boat People — refugees leaving V ietnam in the 1970s and 1980s. Similarly , no comprehensive data set is available for attacks on yachts. Information concerning pirate attacks on yachts and fishing boats has, ther efore, been gathered from books, newspapers, websites, and interviews with local law enforcement personnel, representatives of fishing associations, yachtsmen, and fishers.3 The personal experiences and r ecollections of 02 Oceans_Crime Ch 2 12/14/10, 2:49 PM 56 Piracy and Fishers 57 individual fishers, fishing communities, and pleasur e craft sailors ar e important, as they not only pr ovide a singular appreciation of the meaning of piracy for such individuals, but also allow a reasonable assessment of both the scale and character of attacks on smaller vessels thr oughout Southeast Asia and Bangladesh. Attacks on the Vietnamese Boat People The attacks on the Vietnamese Boat People from the mid-1970s to the...