Fishing Practices Must Be Changed

As fish become rare, fishermen tend to use other fishing equipment or modify existing equipment to catch more fish.

Kompas/Nikson Sinaga

Traditional fishing boats are moored on Monday (19/2) at a fishing boat harbor in Medan Belawan district, Medan, North Sumatra. Traditional fishermen are demanding that the government ban the use of cantrang (seine net), because it damages the environment and reduces their catch.

BANYUWANGI, KOMPAS – Banning cantrang (seine net) for more environmentally friendly fishing equipment is deemed insufficient to protect the marine ecosystem. Fishing communities must also change their fishing practices, from merely hunting to investing in fishery resources.

Maritime anthropologist Kusnadi of Jember University’s School of Humanities said environmentally friendly fishing equipment, when used greedily, would not lead to fishery resource preservation. Therefore, he urged the government to train fishermen to completely transform their fishing ways.