Participants enjoying themselves between training sessions.

Indonesia’s marine resources have enormous potential. However, there are many challenges in managing these resources such as overfishing, low incomes and standards of living for fishers, lack of financial support in terms of credit schemes, and weak management to prevent illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. To address these issues, the national government established 11 Fisheries Management Areas (FMA) which are managed by an appointed management council which comprises of regional stakeholders such as Fishing Port, Regional Development Planning Agency, Provincial Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and local universities.

In November, CSF collaborated with Raja Ali Haji Maritime University (UMRAH) and the Directorate General for Capture Fisheries (DJPT) of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) to hold an economic and policy training for various stakeholders from FMA 711, located in western Indonesia. This particular FMA was chosen as it faces a complex set of issues including territorial disputes, illegal foreign fishing vessels, and lack of effective management.

Eva Anggraini, TOT alumna, explaining microeconomics of fisheries.

This 5-day training was held in Tanjung Pinang, Riau Islands Province and covered topics ranging from sustainable fisheries management to governance and regulation, and introduced a cross-departmental collaboration framework. Participants learned how to identify challenges to fisheries management in FMA 711, and gained exposure to a number of tools to address these challenges including impact analysis, economic valuation, cost benefit analysis, and trade-off analysis. The potential of Marine Protected Areas (MPA) and fisheries value chains were also covered.

This course was the first teaching opportunity for two instructors from our Training of Trainers (TOT) event in August 2018, namely Eva Anggraini and Rimawan Pradiptyo (see our the news story about the TOT here). Eva presented the microeconomics of fisheries and Rimawan offered a macroeconomic point of view. Another TOT alumni, Yudi Wahyudin from Bogor Agricultural University, was also present. Zuzy Anna from Padjadjaran University and Handoko Adi Susanto from Rare also led sessions during the course.

Enthusiastic participants energized after the training.

The last day of the training was dedicated to a policy lab led by Yudi Wahyudin, a graduate of CSF’s 2015 course in Bali. Participants were eager to share their challenges in implementing good fisheries policy in their area. They identified four different types of issues: ecological, social, economic, and institutional. The group identified a lack of adequate human resources and capacity as the main obstacle to effective management in FMA 711.

CSF’s course will hopefully be the first step towards addressing this issue. The participants – who have now joined our global alumni network – will use the knowledge obtained from our training to more effectively manage FMA 711. CSF is now partnering with stakeholders to conduct a series of analysis projects over the next six months. Stay tuned for more as these analyses develop!

Puguh Wahyu Widodo - Directorate General of Marine Spatial Management MMAF

“At first, I didn’t know how important economics was in the fisheries management process. This training has opened my perspective in dealing with fisheries issues, and given me tools to show people what’s in it for them when we have to convince them to fish sustainably.” - Puguh Wahyu Widodo - Directorate General of Marine Spatial Management MMAF

This course and our ongoing engagement with FMAs in Indonesia was made possible with support from the MacArthur Foundation.

All photos: Imanda Pradana