Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Marine affairs and Fisheries Minister Fadel Muhammad said the number of poor fishermen has reached 7.87 million, 25.14 percent of the total Indonesian poor population (30.02 million).

The poor fishermen are now living in 10,600 villages located in coastal areas in various regions in the country, Fadel Muhammad said here on Tuesday.

According to him, as many as 28,258 villages are categorized as poor out of 73,067 villages in the country. Indonesia has a population of about 230 million.

Thus, in a bid to overcome the poverty problem, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has issued presidential decree no.10/2011 on a coordination team on pro-people Improvement and Expansion program.

The presidential decree assigns minister Fadel Muhammad to lead various programs of poverty mitigation in coastal areas.

Minister Fadel Muhammad expressed hope that through such regulation, the fishermen income could be raised and improve their food security based on the fish resources. (*)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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