Fisherman, Vacation and the Prohibition

The people of Aceh who live on the coast make the sea as the main source of livelihood. They work as traditional fishermen by boat and trawl as a means to catch fish. Fishermen who do not have their own equipment will join large fishing vessels and become crewmembers and headed by a handler. The handler is the person who knows all the ins and outs of the sea and can detect the location of the existence of fish. The handler is fully responsible for the ship's owner and the crew, the profitability of a voyage is in the hands of the handler, but if a lot gets the catch, the right handler is also getting bigger.

Friday is a day prohibited by custom to go down to the sea. Fishermen make Friday a holiday. Friday is also used to repair damaged fishing equipment, such as patching the trawl where it is torn for a week. This can be seen, on Friday the Aceh ocean will be quiet of all the activities of the fishermen. As a holiday, in addition to repairing work equipment, Friday is also used by the handler to discuss any ship issues with the ship owner.

Although coastal communities, especially fishermen, are known for their harsh words and curses during fishing, there are some words that are taboo during fishing. This becomes an unwritten rule but is obeyed by all fishermen, whether fishermen with small boats or fishermen with fishing boats. If sailing fishermen, especially the crew is prohibited to mention the name of the mountain, they believe if the mountain is called then the waves as high as the mountain will deprive their ships. For the word mountain is replaced with high ground, and the word also becomes the word softener or figurative word from the mountain. The word elephant is replaced with the word po meurah. If one of the crew members would say that a job is finished, he will not use the usual lheuëh word (ready), in Aceh lheuëh also means loose, and the fish already trapped in the trawl is believed to be loose, for lheuëh replacement word then it is worn a less dangerous synonym, leungka.

Knowledge of the seas and trawls only the handler knows, and the crew must obey the handler, not only because they are the crew of the handler, but because only the handler has knowledge of the ins and outs of the ocean. That is the profession of most people of Aceh in addition to being a farmer, fishermen is a major profession for coastal communities.