E/2005/3/12
Fish Trap
Sumatra, Indonesia
Unknown Date
Materials: Bamboo
This object is a cylindrical-shaped woven bamboo fish trap. It is about 10.5 inches high by 20 inches long by 8 inches wide while the lid is 4.5 inches in diameter. The side of the basket has a hole that measures 7.5 inches in length and 1.75 inches in width. The hole is designed to allow fish to enter the trap, but does not allow the fish to exit. The top of the fish trap has a hole where the fish are dumped out by the fisherman. There is a round lid situated over the hole to prevent the fish from escaping while in the trap.
This fish trap was purchased from street peddlers on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia between 1968-1978 at a camp near the city of Pekanbaru. Indonesia is an archipelago consisting of around 17,500 islands in between the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Today, Indonesia represents a crossroads of culture and trade with more than 300 distinct ethnic groups and more than 700 languages still spoken.
Fish traps are woven from bamboo and rattan and are set in the water about five meters (16.4 feet) deep. Fishermen often attach their traps to lines and buoys that float on the surface of the water so they can know where they left the traps. The lines (or ropes) make it easy to haul the traps to the surface of the water once they are full of fish. Sometimes, however, the fishermen simply rely on their memory to know where they set the traps, and then they swim down to retrieve them. Usually, a trap is left in the water for a few days to ensure their success at catching fish.
The fish are taken out of the trap through a special hole. In the case of the trap from the Ethnology Collection, the hole is at the top. This isn’t always the case. It depends on the style of the trap.
The fishing industry is vital to many of the cultural groups of Indonesia and the surrounding region and has been for centuries. A fish trap is called a “bubu” in Bahasa, one of the most common Malay and Indonesian languages. Fish traps come in many different shapes and sizes, but they all serve the same purpose: to catch fish and keep them from escaping.
Take a look at this interesting video on how to make a similar type of bamboo fish trap:
[Stephanie Lynn Allen]























