A thick haze, caused by fires to clear land for palm oil plantations, continued blanketing the city of Padang, West Sumatra in Indonesia on Friday (September 20).

The haze has impacted local fishermen who, due to reduced visibility, have been forced to reduce distance traveled at sea.

The choking smog has enveloped parts of Southeast Asia in the past two weeks.

Haze of forest fires in the provinces of Riau and Jambi is increasingly concentrated in the city of Padang. Although it has not yet affected visibility on land, the opposite is felt by fishermen in Padang. Fog of smoke makes visibility at sea getting shorter. This makes fishermen afraid to go to sea, because the thick smog in the ocean affects their habits in reading waves and weather. In the midst of the smog that has been going on for the past two weeks, fishermen are forced to cut their distance in catching fish. As a result, fish catch has decreased. In fact, not infrequently they have to go home empty-handed.

sot: eri - traditional fisherman