UNAIR NEWS – Government needs to pay attention of fisherman welfare In Indonesia. The statement made by lecturer of fish nutrition, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine UNAIR, Dr. Adriana Monica Syahidu regarding to National Fisherman Day on April 6th.
According to her, fishing equipment of fisherman in Java Island is far less superior than big fishing boat. The discrepancy of fishing equipment brings effect to their income.
The unpredictable weather often affects their fishing activity. “It affects their income, depending on weather. If there’s a bad weather, the fishermen won’t able to go fishing,” Adriana said.
Meanwhile, level of nutritional intake of fisherman is low. Based on the research, they hardly ever eat their catch. All the fish is sold and not for their own consumption.
“They only think being sated. They consume carbohydrate more than protein. It’s totally wrong, so a dissemination for eating fish program is needed,” said the basic fisheries management researcher.
Some efforts have been made to solve the problem, including providing counseling, education on right way to catch fish and also making the regulation about restrictions of fishing equipment which is aimed to maintain the ecological balance.
Besides government efforts, fishermen need to upgrade their knowledge on how to catch fish and use technology for managing fisheries product to enhance their standard of living. “Thus, when they do not go fishing, they can do planting, produce salt or seaweed farming,” she said.
Author: Thia Aminah
Editor: Defrina Sukma S
