Fisheries and human rights observers in Indonesia are calling for a revamp of the country’s fisher training program ahead of a scheduled evaluation of measures to protect maritime workers at home and overseas.
Indonesia, one of the world’s largest fish producers, is home to some 2.3 million people who identify as fishers and boat crews working on domestic and foreign-flagged fleets. However, many of them lack proper training for safety and fishing operations, which experts say leaves them vulnerable to exploitive employment practices and endangers their lives.
A survey from February to April by the NGO Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW) Indonesia found that only 6% of 45 deckhands working at the country’s largest fishing port, the Nizam Zachman port in Jakarta, had government-issued basic safety certification. The relatively high cost for the basic training and certification, combined with low awareness of the benefits and poor inspection at ports are some of the reasons fishers aren’t enrolling in the certification program, DFW found.
“Such certification is essential as evidence of their presence as crew on fishing vessels,” Mohamad Abdi Suhufan, DFW’s national coordinator, told Mongabay in a recent interview.