Fishery of Indonesia

          

           The world we call earth where we live is a place that has many recources for us to take. One of the most simple resources that can be used for the continuation of human’s life is food. People at first collected food from the nature. As ages passed by, people found their own way to produce food by numerous method (e.g. farming). Fishery is some of the oldest way human use to acquire food. People make their living by collecting natural recources from waters like oceans, seas, rivers and lakes.

           Fishery is  defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats, purpose of the activities or a combination of the foregoing features". The definition often includes a combination of fish and fishers in a region, the latter fishing for similar species with similar gear types. (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2010)

          The term fishery includes both saltwater fishery and freshwater fishery. In this context, fishery is defined as collective term acknowledged to include mollusks (shells, squids), crustaceans (crabs), and any saltwater or freshwater animal which are harvested for their value. In Indonesia, eighty five percent of fishery catches comes from the oceans and seas, which exceeds the number of catches coming from in land waters, since the number of nutrients in saltwater environment surpass those in freshwater. The method commonly used in fishery in order to obtain the natural recources is wild fishery. Indonesia is heavily reliant on wild fishery method, which is basically done by capturing fishes that are in an uncontrolled environment and someways, extraction of fishes deployed to obtain its value. The other method used in fishery is farmed fishery, which is done by creating farms in inland areas, such as lakes, ponds (e.g. catfish farms), and some in coastal area (e.g. oyster farm).  Nowadays, the specified number of farmed fishery in Indonesia increases yearly. (Kompasiana – Agrobisnis, 2012).

            Indonesia is a state with rich natural resources in great abundance. Most of its natural resources lies beneath its waves. For instance, Indonesia has a vast area of marine waters lying between many islands in the archipelago which extends from Sumatra in the west to Irian Jaya in the east, from Miangas in the north to Rote in the south. The total area of maritime zone alone covers for around 3.544 million km2, with a total coast line of 104,000 kilometers long (Bakokorsunal, 2006), making Indonesia ranked second in terms of coast line total length, after Canada.  

In the fishery sector, Indonesia has great potential. The potention of raw fishery resource of wild fishery, as well as both farmed fishery, and other common waters are estimated to reach USD 82 million (Kompasiana – Agrobisnis, 2012). These potention does not include the potention coming from ready to consume-fishery product. Such fact reinstate the state’s given strength for its economy.

Although the fisheries sector has only contributed 1.7% of the total GDP, (compare to oil which contributed 70 % of the total GDP), the number of people involved in the fisheries sector reached 5.53 million. The number does not include those engaged in the processing plant. The number alone consist of two million two hundred and thirty thousand high seas fisherman, four hundred and seventy thousand shoreline fisherman, and two million six and hundred thousand people working in fish farming.

Another of the advantage for fishery comes from the technology applied by most fishermen in Indonesia. High number of fishermen uses state of the art workhorse to carry on their work, the motorized boats. Nowadays, fishermen uses faster and bigger boats to operate in larger area. Most of motorized boats uses diesel engine, which is highly durable

Statistics shows that Indonesia has great potention in fishery, it is unquestionable that Indonesia also has the ability to have prosperous future. But the fact that Indonesia has great potention in fishery is rather far from completion, for some contradictory with the fact that the state’s exeperience lacknesses in some fishery sector. One of the most concerned weakness of Indonesian fishery is the state’s components contribution. Some questions may be raised for the government’s and people’s will to synergize in order to exploit this natural resources for the good of many. Since resources are worthless if it is not handled properly, even if it is not concerned all. The matter of able or unable to manage fishery with high potention is totally depend on who is determinded to manage fishery itself. Such fact has a major impact for the economy of Indonesia.

            The most common topic in fishery exploitation is that most of fishers and planters (who works at farmed fishery) works on a small scale fishery. The majority of them from small scale fishery, and has sixty percent share in number of the total fishermen and planters.

Fishermen and planters who come from small scale fishery still use traditional gears, equipment and boats for their operations. Meanwhile their operation are still on a daily basis. This cause low amount of production from their own, which generates relatively low income for them.  

Increasing amount of fish catches also has been a major problem. The continuously rising amount of fish catches causes overfishing. Overfishing causes problem both for environment and the economy. The decreasing amount of fish will break the balance in the ecosystem. For the economy, the decreasing amount of fish will utterly posses threat to the life of fishermen, and then to the people.  

Illegal fishing contributed some of negative effect to the fishery. The country lose its own resources to foreign country. And so, the people of Indonesia has the potential to lose food. This problem has been let unpunished for a number of years and proven fatal to the economy.      

People of Indonesia must concern about the status of the state’s fishery. People can put their investation on fishery, so that fishery have the fund for they to govern. When sufficient fund is ready tobe developed for the fishery, and as well as its management, fishery may become one of the most promising field for woorkers and investors. And so people can enjoy their investation as well as fisherman.

Concern about fishery must be apprehended through fishery management. The integrated process conducted by the government of information gathering, analysis, planning, consultation, decision-making, allocation of resources and formulation and implementation, with enforcement as necessary, of regulations or rules which govern fisheries activities in order to ensure the continued productivity of the resources and the accomplishment of other fisheries objectives. The government then should increase the power of maritime patrol. The navy should conduct patrol operations around Indonesian waters, so that illegal fishing attempt can be reduced.

Based on numerous potentions, Indonesian fishery and the opportunity given from nature that can be achieved, it is likely that the government must focus on the development of fishery for the prosperity of the nation. It is hopefully form the development on progressive basis will be able to boost national economy and help eleminate poverty in the society. And so synergy between government and the people can rise the wealth of our nation

 Source :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisheries_management

http://www.apfic.org/archive/symposia/1987/11.pdf

http://www.sustainablefish.org/fisheries-improvement/tuna/indonesia-yellowfin-tuna

http://www.kkp.go.id/en/index.php/archives/c/2554/Blue-carbon-A-new-hope-for-Indonesia/?category_id=30

http://aciar.gov.au/files/node/10708/IAFS02.pdf

http://ekonomi.kompasiana.com/agrobisnis/2012/06/16/sumber-daya-perikanan-sebagai-tulang-punggung-perekonomian-indonesia/

Writer :
Name : William Pratama
Npm : 120110120135
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