Catching Shrimps in Luak Bay

We grew up knowing that the sea is bountiful and that fishermen and fisherwomen were our friends. We never strayed too far out into the sea having known of drowning cases. But we love the sea, the sunsets and the rompings on the beach. Where could children grow up in a better place.

We read poems written by Ee Tiang Hong about casuarina trees, and we imagined Hemingway's characters rowing their boats across the "sea". We jumped for joy when we saw our friends coming back from their fishing trips. We caught our small crabs and we dug for clams using our bare hands. Once our grandfather found a king crab and in great fear we ran away from the monster to the delight of the old man.

We have lots of stories associated with the sea, the beach and the fisherman. And here is one special one from our mother who wrote about the one and only place in the world where BUBUK could be caught for the making of shrimp paste or BELACAN.

Shrimping Season!!!!!!!

It's the seasonfor shrimping again. For the past ten years, I have lived for this season,"breathing and living" shrimps. I join in with the folks of all races who gather on the beach of Luak for the excitement of going after the "bubuk", a local word for the agile tiny shtrimps, the chief ingredient of the famous "belachan" or shrimp paste which many Malaysians cannot live without.

This seasonal behaviour is akin to the seasonal maniac behaviour caused by the king of the fruits, durian.

And as sure as the "sun rises in the east", fisher folks would be out on the beach with their home-made "paka" driving into the sea bed, trying to net the shrimps, when the first pink shrimp arrives usually in late January. This is a common sence during the shrimp season, up and down the coasts of Srawak, from Kuala Baram to Bintulu. The season has started late this year due to the climatic changes in our country.

It is like there is only "bubk" to live for. Men and women come in droves on motorbikes, in cars, lorries, vans, by bus and even on foot. The tell tale signs are a good backpack(rattan basket usually),some dulang or baskets, a white raffia "gunny" sack for the bubk, and a "paka" which is always dangerously tied to the side of a car, or carried on the shoulder of a pillion rider, or on a bicycle pushed by a keen shrimp fisherman.

The paka is a net, which is about 6 feet long and 5 feet wide secured on both sides to two poles which ae mad of very sturdy poles. These two poles should not be too heavy to hold. At the end of each pole, a shoe-like wooden peg is attached to allow the paka to be pushed easily on the seabed.

When the fisherman pushes the net along the sea, he will cross two poles of the net to create a triangular shaped net.

It is into this net that the shrimps would be caught. When the net is fairly heavy, the fisherman, of fishermen (if more work together) will scoop the shrimps into the backpack. A man and his wife usually forms a team. The man pushes the paka while the woman walks behind carrying the basket and when he is tired, she takes over the netting of the shrimps.

sometimes, a man works alone and he forms a solitary silhouette agains the sky. tjhere were a lot of taboos for the fisher folks to follow years back. In the olden days, when only the Kedayans (the original inhabitants of the Miri-Bintulu area) fished for bubuk, the penghulu would oversee the shrimping season to ensure a good harvest.

Only the paka could be used, not any made shift net from a woman's sarong, or a mosquito net. Anyone caught not using the correct gear would be fined accordingly.

And, should a woman be having her menstruation period, she could not enter the water. Her conditions would drive away the bubuk for the entire season. And little belachan would be produced. She too would be fined, if she broke this adat.

The sea water had to be entered only by the kampong folks. Aliens not belonging to the area would be fined upon entering the water. It was adid that they would disturb the peace and harmony of the sea.

But today, these taboos are no longer followed as the Luak Bay is no longer the preccinct of a single cultural group. The sea and the beach are "free" for all.

the shrimpers are not just the local fishermen today. Some are engineers, offshore drillers, policemen,nurses, bank officers, teachers and lecturers. In fact I know of a Chinese helicopter pilot who never misses a single bubuk season in the last ten years and he has shrimped in Bintulu, Mukah and now in Miri. the housewives consider the shrimp season a time for outings. a happy lot, they are often seen going out in a long line. However, more often than not, they are accompanied by their husbands.

I love the season for many reasons. apart from the fact that I can see the beautiful tiny shrimps jumping in the net, making me wonder how beautiful God has created the earth,right down to the tiny lively shrimps.

Their tiny claws biting into my skin would send tingling sensations down my spine. It is an emotional impact that not many can experience. I can feel the warmth of friendship flowing up the veins of men and women who would come together for shrimping in the early hours of the day.

And then, the very act of shrimping is so much a ritual of man and nature being in sync.

I hope this ecosystem would never be destroyed right in front of my eyes.