Coastal villages hold huge marine economic potential, with a variety of fish, shellfish, shrimps, crabs, and seaweed as the main export commodities of the country.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is expected to empower coastal villages and fishing communities across the country to improve their welfare.

The empowerment of coastal villages and fishing communities across Indonesia is inevitable as it aims to improve the downstream fishery industry.

Coastal villages hold huge marine economic potential, with a variety of fish, shellfish, shrimps, crabs, and seaweed as the main export commodities of the country.

In light of this, the Peoples Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Kiara) Secretary General Abdul Halim has called on the government of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) to not only focus on the eradication of illegal fishing but to also give priority to improving the welfare of coastal communities.

"President Jokowi and his working cabinet should not only focus on matters related to illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing," Halim remarked here on Tuesday.

He noted that the eradication of IUU fishing is a small part of the states obligation to improve the welfare of coastal communities.

According to the Kiara secretary general, the most important part of the governments efforts is to improve the welfare of coastal communities by easing mobility and offering affordable basic amenities in coastal villages and small islands.

Halim reiterated that the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) should not only handle illegal fishing but also work towards increasing self-reliance in the countrys fish processing industry and to comprehensively reform the maritime sector from upstream to downstream.

"Until now, the KKP ministers policy related to making the countrys fish processing industry self-reliant has yet to be finalized," he remarked.

According to Halim, the KKP should focus on ways to facilitate cooperatives for fishermen and household businesses to engage in increasing the value-add of the fish catch.

To this end, he emphasized that significant amount of funds should be allocated to support domestic fish processing activities, especially for cooperatives and household-scale industries.

Indonesia is home to 75 percent of the worlds coral species, at least 30 percent of the fish species, and 20 percent of the total global mangrove cover, as well as numerous species of seaweed that should be counted as the countrys valuable marine resources.

Therefore, the Indonesian Traditional Fishermens Association (KNTI) has called on the government to empower the coastal villages across the country to improve the downstream fishery industry in order to create added value.

"Coastal villages across the country should be empowered in order to become the centers of the peoples economy and downstream fisheries and marine products," KNTI Chairman Riza Damanik stated here some time ago.

The KNTI chairman reminded that of the over 13 million workers in the fisheries sector, 51 percent are involved in fisheries and aquaculture production, 38 percent in marketing, and only 11 percent in the processing sector.

President Jokowi has proclaimed his vision of transforming Indonesia into a global maritime axis, with the key objectives of revitalizing the maritime economy, refining the management of fisheries, and creating maritime food security and sovereignty, among others.

In keeping with Jokowis vision, the Ministry of Rural, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration has encouraged the establishment of Village-owned Enterprises (BUMDes) in all coastal villages to improve the local economy and empower the fishing communities.

"We find it increasingly important to empower the coastal villages and fishing communities in our bid to strengthen the maritime axis vision of President Jokowi," Rural, Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration Minister Marwan Jafar has affirmed.

The minister and the National Awakening Party (PKB) politician noted that the presence of BUMDes in the coastal villages will accelerate the process of empowering the villages and fishing communities.

Marwan stated as quoted by Ayo ke Desa (Lets Go to Village) magazine, published by his ministrys Directorate General of Rural Area Development that BUMDes are considered as the most appropriate medium to manage and develop the coastal villages and fishing communities.

The countrys natural marine resources are indeed a blue diamond, and the World Banks data indicated that Indonesian fisheries represent five percent of the global production, which equals US$20 billion annually.

The figure would be even greater if the value of economic losses due to illegal fishing was added, which could reach US$8 billion, he remarked.

No wonder, realizing the maritime axis vision will yield greater benefits not only to the government but also to the people, in particular to those inhabiting the coastal areas.

At least 60 percent of the Indonesian population lives along the coastline, and thus, focusing development in this area would help improve the welfare of the coastal communities and strengthen Indonesias position as a rising economic powerhouse.

"Therefore, the efforts to promote a coastal community-based economy should be the main target of this BUMDes program," the minister emphasized.

He explained that the efforts should begin with improving the economic infrastructure, such as the fish markets, fishing fleets, and sustainable marketing channels, so that small communities can garner greater benefits from this program.

The creation of BUMDes involving the coastal villages and fishing communities can help improve awareness regarding the importance of marine resources and the local communities ownership of this biological richness.

"BUMDes can play several roles in a bid to boost village fishery businesses, such as providing soft loans to fishermen, providing boats and fishing equipment, drying facilities, storage facilities, vehicles, and the management of fish auctions," Marwan noted.(*)

Reporter: Otniel Tamindael
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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