Sudarnoso at home in his village. (Photo: Robin Romano)

After laboring for months on a rickety fishing pier stranded in the middle of the ocean, Sudarnoso couldn't wait to wrap his arms around his parents. But, when he finally reached his tiny village in Sumatra, Indonesia, the 14-year-old found nothing but an empty house.

"While I was working, my parents moved away," says Sudarnoso, who now lives with his uncle. "I don't know why they moved. I haven't spoken to them for seven months, since I left to work."

Desperately poor, thousands of children like Sudarnoso work on Indonesia's jermals, or fish factories built several miles off the Indonesian coast. For endless hours each day, they labor under the blazing sun, catching, sorting, and boiling fish. As they hoist gigantic fishing nets from the ocean, young fishermen dodge the angry waves swirling around them. At night, they sleep in rusted metal shacks that sit on run-down piers surrounded by water.

"Working on the jermal is heavy, hot, scary work," says Sudarnoso, who labored 12 hours a day, every day, for seven straight months. "I didn't like the waves, the winds, and the storms. I was afraid the jermal would break because it would shake so much."

For his backbreaking labor, Sudarnoso earned just $9 a month. He's one of the lucky ones. More than 30 percent of children never pocket a penny for work that often leaves their spirits battered and their bodies beaten.

"Once, while I was drilling, I couldn't hold on to the drill anymore, and it came back and hit my arm," says Sudarnoso. "I got some bruises."

Click on the image to see more photos of jermals. (Photo: Robin Romano)

Some kids lose fingernails. Others suffer stings from jellyfish and sea snakes tangled in the nets. With nothing but aspirin and bandages to nurse their wounds, children must stomach their pain.

Some children try to escape the misery, only to be swallowed by fierce tides. With no life jackets on board, many children drown while struggling to swim to freedom. Others, like 15-year-old Yuliagi, long to leave, but simply are too frightened. Instead, they remain prisoners in the middle of the ocean.

"I'm sad because all day and all night, we just work," says Yuliagi, whose home, for now, is a shack on a rickety jermal. "But the boss said I couldn't go home; they would catch me and bring me to another fishing pier."

While Yuliagi struggles to survive at sea, Sudarnoso is back home, safe from the assault of pounding waves and angry foremen. Still, the young boy's heart is filled with sorrow for the family he yearns to see.