REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Secretary General of the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Kiara) Susan Herawati said the number of fishermen in Indonesia is 2,773,538 people (data from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries 2024), but this data has not separated between industrial fishermen and small-scale or traditional fishermen.
Based on Law number 7 of 2016, the number of small fishing vessels in Indonesia in 2023 is 775,449 units or about 92.7 percent of the total of 836,733 vessels in Indonesia. "So in the context of fishermen, it is the small-scale fishermen who dominate the number of fishermen in Indonesia," Susan told Republika.
Susan said that healthy and accessible (not privatized) sea conditions play an important role as a strategic food source that sustains small fishermen. Thus, small fishermen can meet the food needs, especially the animal protein needed by the nation.
"Small fishermen are very dependent on healthy and accessible seas to ensure their food security..."