Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Fisheries Develops Group Business Models for Fishermen

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo. (Photo by: PR/Ibrahim6

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Edhy Prabowo monitored the development of fishermen joint business model group for fish cultivation, capture fishery, and the marketing.

On fish cultivation sector, the Ministry is developing a model project for shrimp farming in five potential regions, such as Aceh, Lampung, Cianjur, Sukamara (Central Kalimantan), and Buol (Gorontalo).

“We expect the locations to be a center for training for fish farmers to join a corporate business,” the Minister said after joining a Limited Meeting on Farmers and Fishermen Corporations in Realizing an Economic Transformation, Tuesday (6/10), in Jakarta.

He went on to say that the shrimp farm developed on 5 hectares of land is expected to start the production by the end of this year and be the model project.

In addition, the Ministry also developed millennial shrimp farming in biofloc in two locations, 50 hectares in Jepara and 40 hectares in Situbondo.

“It can also serve as a place to train the youth about biofloc shrimp farming,” Edhy said.

On capture fishery sector, the Ministry will focus on fishermen with fishing vessels <5 GT in size and currently is collecting data of the fishermen.

“We are striving to level up the fishermen so that fishing vessels in Indonesia are not only owned by businesspersons that have huge capital but also will be owned by small-scale fishers who are marginalized,” he explained.

On marketing sector, the Ministry has recorded a significant absorption of fish products in domestic or international markets. In addition, the Ministry will launch Pasar Laut Indonesia (Indonesian Marine Market) that sells more than 800 products in October.

On that occasion, the Minister said that the fishermen can apply for Smallholder Business Credit (KUR) or micro loan provided by the Ministry’s Agency of Marine and Fisheries Business Capital Management.

He added that the current corporates on fisheries industry have not established a good connection between each other. Thus, the Ministry is preparing mentoring program for the fishermen’s corporate groups.

“We hope this project can be our focus in developing the capacity of our fishers so they can be self-reliant,” Edhy concluded. (FID/UN)

Translated by :Rany Anjany
Reviewed by: Lulu Wuliarti