​Assalam,  

We are #DemiLaut, a social enterprise focusing on the needs of traditional and artisanal fishers, to advocate, empower and provide integrated solutions towards a sustainable fishing culture.

Last year, with the support of our generous donors, we managed to exceed 200% of our crowdfunding goal with Project Idin (http://j.mp/demilaut21). With your help, we were able to provide Hj Idin with a Pemukat Noh, which mechanizes the net hauling process, and reduces the need of already depleting manpower due to COVID-19 restrictions. In these trying times, we also ‘pandemic-proofed’ his trade through digitization and connected him with online marketplaces.  

A traditional fisher in Sibuti, Borneo - Haji Idin

Hj Idin's Biography 

Hj Idin is a traditional fisherman from Kuala Sibuti, Sarawak, a place within Borneo. He started fishing as a hobby when he was a kid, and has since been working hard for more than 30 years to take care of his family through his daily fishing routine. He usually leaves for fishing by 4 am in the morning, returning home at about 8 am before going back to the sea again about 4 pm till 9 pm to make ends meet.

As we were connecting Hj Idin to online platforms and businesses, we discovered that these businesses shy away from small scale fishers due to inconsistencies in fish quality.

This is not an isolated incident in Sarawak, but across the South China Sea. Traditional fishers do not have adequate tools to preserve the freshness of their fish. Risking contamination and decomposition of fish due to improper stock management.

Artisanal or small-scale fishers much like Hj Idin and other fisherfolk in Sibuti, Sarawak earn an average of RM3600 (USD$ 900) per boat per month, and has to spend up to RM 70 (USD$ 17) per trip on ice to maintain the freshness of fish. Across an average of 20 working days in a month, fishers would be spending 37% of their income on ice packs. 

Understandably, an average artisanal fisher would invest minimally in ice as there is no guarantee of catch in any given fishing day. Consequently, traditional fishers would have to sell off their fish quickly before it decomposes and is thrown away if left unsold, further contributing to overfishing, threatening our food security in the process. 

Fishers would have no choice but to sell fish stocks cheaply to local community members and neighbors, or to middlemen, who up-sells fish stocks three times higher in retail markets or to businesses in the city.

Keeping it chill (For a longer time)

We are embarking on a project called: #DemiLaut Cold Chain to help Hj Idin to the rest of the fishing community in Sibuti access income sources and to provide inexpensive and reusable ice packs to his fellow artisanal fishers. The goals of this project focus on:  

• Empowering the Sibuti community through Hj Idin by renting economical cold packs 

• Maintaining the freshness of fish caught by the fisher community in Sibuti 

• Minimizing impacts of fish wastage from improper fish stock management

• Developing Hj Idin into a role model, who provides value to a community, and an ambassador of #DemiLaut 

​We believe that it takes only a single person to start a movement, but it requires a community to make a difference. 

Help us empower a community to cultivate a sustainable fishing culture, your support will keep fishermen on the path to a brighter future; and by preventing fish wastage, we can contribute to the marine food security in the South China Sea region together with your generous donation. 

By crowdfunding a 200L freezer and 100 ice blocks for Hj Idin, we will be able to minimize fish wastage for 30 fishers; a stepping stone to address overfishing. 

With #DemiLaut's guidance and support, Hj Idin will be renting out long-lasting ice packs to 30 fellow fisher colleagues at RM 5 (USD$ 1.25) for a set of 6 ice packs per day, 14 X less than current prices for ice-filled plastic bags which cost up to RM 70 (USD$ 17.25).

Guiding fishers to retain the freshness of fish through a standardized, user-friendly method for proper temperature control and stock management, results in reducing the risk of bacterial contamination and decomposition of marine stocks. 

By empowering fishermen with sustainable management tools that align with environmental and economic incentives, can we then uplift them to work their way out of this cycle? With the development of Hj Idin into a leading role model, can we innovate a sustainable ocean economy together with the fisher community of Sibuti? 

Questions like these excite us at #DemiLaut, but can only be answered by you, dear donors. We believe that practical and economical solutions can incite change, a prequel to a meaningful and sustainable impact for fishers and the marine ecosystem. 

 A peek behind the Curtain

With team members from different backgrounds from engineers to marine biologists and fishers, this transdisciplinary team is guaranteed to come up with a multitude of solutions that are economic and highly impactful. 

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Embarking on this crowdfunding journey would not be possible without the help of such amazing people and organizations who believe in our mission.

We greatly appreciate the support provided by the Youth Co:Lab, an initiative co-led by UNDP and Citi Foundation. 

The crowdfunding support and business advice given were incredibly helpful, which led us to take this big step for our social enterprise.