If we expect our generations to be smart, like ideally in Japan, where the fish consumption has reached 140 kilograms per capita per year, our national target this year should be 60 kilograms per capita per year.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, has urged people across the regions to serve more fish on Eid al-Fitr this year.

In a press release issued here on Monday, Trenggono wrote that he has directly distributed about 1.5 tons of frozen fish and hundred packages of processed fish to workers and residents near the ministry’s main office.

“I hope this can aid sir and madam to fulfill the food needs during Lebaran (Eid al-Fitr),” he remarked.

Fish distribution ahead of Eid Al Fitr 2021 is a part of the quarantine quality month (BMK) program, organized annually by the ministry, he added.

The distributed packages comprised large styrofoam boxes containing three kilograms of frozen fish (mackarel and milkfish) each along with processed fish products, he informed.

The people who received the packages were residents of three neighborhood units located close to the ministry’s office. Meanwhile, the workers who got the packages were security officers, cleanliness workers, and technicians working at the ministry, the minister informed.

It has been reported earlier that the House of Representatives’ Commission VI member Slamet has called for raising the national fish consumption to the level of Japan to solve a number of problems pertaining to public nutrition, for instance, stunting.

“If we expect our generations to be smart, like ideally in Japan, where the fish consumption has reached 140 kilograms per capita per year, our national target this year should be 60 kilograms per capita per year,” he highlighted.

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Slamet pointed out that marine resources are abundantly available in Indonesia, so the government should work to optimize their use.

Research and human resources board head at the ministry Sjarief Widjaja noted that online training on fishery product processing provided in several regions can help boost the national fish consumption level.

“The innovation of fish processed products is also important in enhancing the national fish consumption level,” he remarked.

The ministry has set the target to raise fish consumption to 62.50 kilograms per capita per year by 2024 as compared to 56.39 kilograms per capita per year in 2020.

Hence, such training is one of the ministry’s strategies to achieve the fish consumption target, he said.

The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has launched the love-to-eat-fish movement (Germarikan) to boost national fish consumption.

In cooperation with Commission IV of the House of Representatives, the campaign will help educate people about the benefits of eating fish and distribute packages of processed fish products in 112 districts and towns across 21 provinces in Indonesia from March until July, 2021.

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Translator: Juwita Trisna Rahayu
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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