About The Jermals (fishing platforms)

A jermal is a fishing platform perched precariously on long stilts in the shallow seas off North Sumatra. There are between 1,200 and 1,500 such platforms with more than 5,000 boys (ages 10 - 17) at work on them. Their world consists only of these rickety wooden structures not much larger than a tennis court, 15 to 50 km off the coast, sitting a few meters above the waves. Perhaps 10 workers live on each; half or more are children. There is little safety equipment. Living amenities are minimal.

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Straining the Catch


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Dangerous Work


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, N. Sumatra, Indonesia
The young Jermal crew balances on planks to pull in a fishing net.

Round the Clock


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Young jermal worker poles fish in a rinsing vat.

Daily Grind


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Young jermal crew reels in fishing nets.

Shouldering the Burden


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia
The young crew of a jermal takes in nets for mending.

Young Crew


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Two young crew members of a jermal. Bona Oli Manura, age 12, at right. He has been working on the jermal for 9 months.

Miles From Shore


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia
A jermal (fishing platform), off the coast of Sumatra.

A Moment's Rest


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia

Hazardous Work


©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia
Boiling part of the day's catch.

The young crew of a jermal after a storm


© ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Jermal (Fishing Platform) off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia

Sorting Fish

©ROMANO/Stolen Childhoods

Tanjung Tiram, North Sumatra, Indonesia