Chasseurs de requin-tigre géant _ SLICE PEUPLES

Savoie is the largest fisherman in the West of Java. He has been fishing squall for more than 40 years. With his sons to whom he teaches his art, he will set up his lines near the Anak Krakatao volcano in the middle of the Detroit. Rumi is his youngest son. He is 20 years old. He has been fishing with his father for 7 years. He prepares the line. A hundred hooks spread over 1,500 meters of nylon wire, with a buoy, topped with a flag, at each end. The line is designed to go down to 150 meters deep. It is at this depth that most sharks live. Appas are fish and remains of goats or buffalo. Meat is the best appa for sharks, but it is expensive. Savoie can only put a few pieces per line. Sharks hunt at nightfall. You must not throw your line before. Otherwise, the appas are devoured by small fish. By throwing the line, you must pray to the Rakidoul. She is the goddess of the sea. She has the power of life or death over the fishermen. You must not offend her. Usually, Savoie sets up his boat on one of the line's buoys and spends the night at sea. But it is the fog. The storms are almost daily. It is better to spend the night in the shelter of the nearest island. Although very close to the shore, the fishermen go to dinner and sleep on their boats. Because at night, the islands are inhabited by the spirits of the sailors that the Rakidoul capture during storms. In the morning, a storm broke out. Savoie, wise by the years, hesitated to leave to raise the lines. But his eldest son, Lombre, faithful to his reputation, pushed everyone. The two boats head straight for their goal, the legendary rock of Buffalo Stone. Savoie knows by experience that off this mythical place, the biggest sharks are patrolling. After a few hours of difficult search due to the strong swell, the flag indicating the location of the line is in sight. Meter by meter, under a temperature that often exceeds 30 degrees, Savoie's sons go hand in hand to raise the line, praying that the squall is bitten by the Amazons. These fishermen perpetuate a secular tradition, using centuries-old fishing techniques, insensitive to the progress of our civilization. Lombre leads the maneuver. The line is harder to raise. Without gloves, the rope hurts the fishermen's hands. Something very heavy has taken hold of the line. No, no, no, let's go! A tiger shark, nearly 5 meters long, took hold of one of Lombre's Amazons. Never apart from the old Savoie, had these fishermen seen such a monster. Buffalo Stone is faithful to his legend. The tiger shark is with the white shark the most dangerous of the squalls. It is very difficult to maneuver such an animal. The men only have their hands and their courage to come to the end of the shark. The old companion of Savoie comes to give a hand, because it will take more than five men to pull the monster out of the water. The shark must exceed half a ton. It is impossible to lift the animal. Lombre decides to bring the shark to the front of the boat, because the edges are less high. He will try to take advantage of a wave to throw it on board. The shark is still alive. It is almost noon. It's been two hours since the men and the squall have been fighting. It was the last attempt. A wave bigger than the others almost overturned the boat. Lombre does not want to risk his only boat. There is only one solution left. Tie the shark to the boat and bite it. Lombre is the only one who wants to throw himself into the water to tie the tail of the shark. This one, struggling and losing more and more blood, can attract another monster at any time. It must be done quickly. The shark had to fight all night because it got completely tangled in the line. He even took the opportunity to cut in half a small tiger shark with only the head left. After four hours of fighting, the shark is finally hooked to the boat. Like in the old man and the sea of ​​the Mingwé, the shark is moored to a beach on the Anak Krakatao volcano, where it will be emptied and cut. These men are fishing from another time. Each fish represents, in their eyes, a gift from the gods. No modern technique has come to disturb this ritual from the bottom of the ages. The fin of this great tiger shark will allow them to feed their whole family for more than a month. If one day, large foreign fishermen come to wet their nets in these waters, there will be no more fish. And it will be the end of the wonderful adventure of these fishermen and their treasure. The very strong smell released by the shark attracts the eagle-fisherman in search of easy food. All these elephants together must weigh at least 5 kilos. A fish like this happens only once a year. How many times have these men entered the brooding port? After two weeks of fishing, Sawa and his sons are back in La Buane. A small fishing port located in the far west of Java, La Buane lives at the pace of the tropical climate. Only the return of the shark fishermen comes to disturb the tranquility of the villagers. The sharks are immediately disembarked and sold at auction to local fishermen. The big tiger shark that Lombre proudly shows will only be sold for 50,000 rupiahs, 150 francs.