Fishermen in Nias whose livelihoods were affected by the tsunami and earthquake received fishery and marine carpentry training as well as shiny new boats as part of an ACTED project funded by the Canadian Red Cross.

After weeks of tropical rain on Nias Island, the first official handover of the new fishing boats took place on a day of sunshine and calm sea.

The beach outside the ACTED office was buzzing with excitement and the sound of engines being fine-tuned and fitted, as fishermen whose industry was severely damaged by the tsunami and earthquake on Nias in March 2005 prepared to take their new vessels home.

By the end of November 2009, 100 fully equipped fishing boats were distributed and had made their way to new destinations in Lahewa and Afulu sub-districts in West Nias, marking the completion of the fishery component of the two-year livelihood project in 26 communities.

For many of the fishermen, leaving Fodo beach on Nias in their new boats, complete with engines, safety equipment, ice boxes and fishing gear, marked the beginning of a new era of opportunity. Fishing has a long history on Nias, and the surrounding waters are rich with grouper, tuna, lobster and prawns to name but a few delicious species. Although fishing remains of one the primary ways of making a living on this remote island, even before the tsunami and earthquake damaged and destroyed many fishing vessels, the industry was facing difficulties.

Traditionally in this area, fishing boats would be constructed by hollowing out large trees. This practice is labour intensive, wastes a lot of timber, and means that once damaged, boats are difficult to repair. As the aged trees necessary for this method of boatbuilding became more scarce on Nias, boats became smaller and less seaworthy, compromising the safety of the fishermen and their ability to work effectively, and the local environment continued to suffer.

The boats that ACTED has built, and for which it trained the beneficiaries to their construction and maintenance, have been designed by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Using only legal timber, this method is far more sustainable than the traditional dug-out technique, not only because it uses less wood, but also because these boats are much easier to repair. This of course means that the fishermen will be safer as they work, able to hold larger catches and take longer trips to sustainable fishing locations.

Our work in this project however extends far beyond the provision of new boats and boatbuilding techniques. Fishermen have been trained in the benefits and practicalities of working in groups and setting up credit unions, and were also provided with the equipment to help them get started. At the same time, ACTED has provided education on boat and engine maintenance. The project also involved agricultural training and equipment distribution in Lahewa and Afulu districts, and training to strengthen local governance.

A week of daily handovers and boat distributions began on the 17th November 2009. The fishing groups and three pillars of local government signed the contracts they had designed about the use of the boats, before packing their new equipment into their boats and travelling home.

ACTED in Indonesia remains committed to working with the fishing communities of Nias to improve their livelihoods, and is hoping to work in the near future with the FAO to assess and advance techniques for storing, processing and selling locally caught fish.