REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has been encouraging fishermen to establish a business group to increase economic independence by drafting regulation on empowerment of fishermen.

"The Draft Government Regulation (RPP) on Empowerment of Fishermen boosts fishermen who have been working individually to be a group of business entities, whether they were cooperative, CV, or PT," Secretary General of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry Sjarief Widjaja said here on Friday.

According to Sjarief, this will improve the protection of fishermen in the form of a legal entity that was not available previously.

The establishment of a business group could elevate fishermen to the same level with groups of other businesses.

He revealed that the number of fishermen in Indonesia was approximately 2.7 million, of whom, as much as 95.6 percent were traditional fishermen operating around the coast.

"The number of fishermen is currently 2.7 million. Of these, 1.1 million work full time, while the others work part-time," he noted.

He pointed out that the ministry had various programs to empower fishermen as well as the implementation of business credit, processing group, and marketers throughout Indonesia.

"RPP is the legitimacy of what we have done with the Regulation of the Minister but has now been formulated as a government regulation," he affirmed.

Sjarief added that the instruments of empowerment of fishermen and fish farmers were in the line with the regulations embodied in the International Instrument of Protection of Small Scale Fishermen.

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