Fish Disappear From the "Tin Beach"

The operation of suction vessels at the Matras coast could not be stopped, because the operation of the ships was also needed by 6,500 employees of PT Timah.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

A fisherman monitors the suction boat activity in the waters of Matras Beach, Sungailiat District, Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Province, Wednesday (7/4/2021). Local fishermen protested the tin mining activities in these waters because it reduced fish catches.

Tin mining has been going on for more than three centuries on the islands of Bangka Belitung; thousands of holes bear witness to that. As tin reserves on land are depleting, mining has shifted to the sea, spelling trouble for fishermen.

"Bopi, Bopi, Bopi," Cecep Agung Priyatna, 37, was shouting on Wednesday (7/4/2021), calling a village dog away from the wreck of a suction boat belonging to state-owned tin mining company PT Timah that has run aground off Matras Beach in Bangka regency, Bangka Belitung Islands.