May 2013

On May 9th, the Fishing & Living team conducted workshop in a small fishing community in South Sulawesi. The seminar was attended by approximately 35 people, the majority of whom were fishermen, boat captains, local tuna traders and related professionals.

Topics of the workshop included:

• Sustainability in fisheries:  A background to why sustainability is becoming more and more important and why sustainability should become the cornerstone of every fishing activity in Indonesia for the future.
• Data collection; what type of data the Fishing & Living program collects, what the data can tell us and how this data can make the fishing operations of the artisanal fishermen more efficient and targeted, with the potential of increasing their benefits and decreasing their costs
• Group formation; why becoming part of a more structured community or a member of a fisherman organization can benefit the fishermen in the long run. A combined voice is needed when lobbying the government, when campaigning for rights and when making local management plans for the sustainable management of their fishery.  Many Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fisheries are active in the area on large foreign boats, only together can the local fishermen begin to tackle this problem
• Improving quality; simple steps that can be taken on every trip and by every fishermen to improve the quality of their fish. Improved quality means improved prices