"To maintain ocean health as an effort to create resilience to climate change, this is in line with efforts to achieve the 14th SDGs target, namely life below water," he explained here on Tuesday.
The blue economy policies include expanding marine conservation areas to increase the protection of fish spawning habitats and maintain the sea's function of absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, he said.
"The area of conservation areas until 2022 reached 28.9 million hectares, or 8.7 percent of the total area of Indonesian waters, and the ministry is targeting the area of conservation areas to be 32.5 million hectares by 2030," he informed.
Another policy, he said, is quota-based measurable fishing (PIT), which has been launched to protect ocean health from over-exploitation or those that damage fishery resources and indulge in over-fishing.
The third policy is the development of sustainable marine, coastal, and inland aquaculture, which is also in keeping with the current global fisheries trend, namely to encourage aquaculture as an important pillar in contributing to the global food supply.
The fourth policy, he added, is the supervision and control of coastal areas and small islands to maintain the health of coastal areas, which have an important role as buffers for marine ecosystems.
The fifth policy pertains to cleaning up plastic waste in the sea through the fishermen's participation movement or Love the Sea Month (BCL).
"Through the month of love of the sea, the ministry invites fishermen for a full month to collect plastic waste in the sea," he informed.
Trenggono said he believes that the policy on processing marine and fishery resources under the blue economy program is in line with global efforts to build resilience against climate change.
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Translator: Sinta Ambarwati, Katriana
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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