The fishing village is developed to become more advancedJakarta (ANTARA) - The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry edified communities in Serang, Banten, through a series of trainings in March-April 2022 to pursue the Advanced Fishermen Village Program that can drive economic growth for the coastal communities.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono stated that the Kampung Nelayan Maju (Advanced Fishermen Village) Program was part of the government's efforts to create an organized, advanced, clean, healthy, and comfortable fishing village, which could improve the quality of life and productivity of fishermen and their families' businesses.
"The fishing village is developed to become more advanced. It (was done with the) expectation that there will be no other fishing villages with (a negative) image, such as (with the impression of) poverty, (being messy) and dirty. They must be more well-organized and competitive," he affirmed.
One of the ministry's units, the Research and Human Resources Agency, conducted training in various regions, with the most recent one being an offline training of Diversification of Processed Fish in Serang City and Serang District, in Banten Province, on March and April 2022.
Head of the Research and Human Resources Agency, I Nyoman Radiarta, stated that this training program was a form of the agency's support in pursuing the ministry's breakthrough program in Serang City and Serang District, Banten Province.
Radiarta affirmed that the program was implemented in Kasemen Sub-district in Serang City and Tanara Sub-district in Serang District.
The community should be geared with proper competencies, according to Radiarta. This especially applies to fishermen's wives, who -- through the diversification of processed fish -- could be guided in producing high-value products out of the captured fish while also applying the principle of zero waste.
The program, facilitated by the Tegal Fisheries Training and Extension Center, under the supervision of the Marine and Fisheries Training Center, garnered as many as 100 participants from the fishing communities during each of the events.
During the training, the participants were taught several things, ranging from how to make fish-based dishes or items and packaging the products to marketing strategies.
Head of the Marine and Fisheries Training Center for Education and Culture, Lilly Aprilya Pregiwati, deemed the program helpful to ensure food security and a source of nutrition for the people of Serang City as a means to achieve the National Fish Consumption Rate target. This is because its rate in Banten Province was still far from the target figure.
"The rate of fish consumption in Banten is (known) to be still below the target, which is 42.94 kilograms per capita in 2019. In this case, in 2022, the ministry has targeted the National Fish Consumption Rate of 59.53 kilograms per capita and will increase to 62.05 kilograms per capita in 2024. Thus, the rate in Banten Province should be increased through this training," she affirmed.
Pregiwati also opined that diversification could create varied processed fish products that could be a business alternative to attract several people.
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Translator: M Razi Rahman, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Sri Haryati
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