The Indonesian Survey Flow Institute (ASI) released the results of its latest survey themed "Post-Pandemic Maritime Economic Prospects and the Voice of Indonesian Fishermen". The survey, which was conducted on 14 – 20 August 2022 in 34 provinces in Indonesia, has three important conclusions. "There are at least three concluding analyzes in the findings of this national survey, namely the analysis of the economic perspective, the populist/community perspective, and the political perspective," said the Executive Director of the Indonesian Survey Flow, Ali Rif'an, in the release of the survey results, Wednesday (7/9/2022). In the analysis of the survey conclusions, it is explained that from an economic perspective, the public is of the opinion (75.7%) that the maritime economy (marine and fisheries) is an alternative to accelerate the recovery of the post-pandemic national economy. And regulatory, legal, and government policy issues (31.8%) are the problems that most hinder Indonesia in developing the maritime sector, followed by infrastructure and technology issues (18.7%), structural and institutional problems (16.4%), and Indonesian mindset and culture (11,3%). "Not only that, the marine and fisheries sector (16.7%) is also one of the most important sectors to be managed seriously if Indonesia wants to become the largest economy in the world," explained Ali Rif'an. In addition, from a populist or community perspective, it must be acknowledged that as one of the pillars of the national economy, fishermen (people who live on the coast) still receive less attention. Fishermen's lack of access to sources of capital (30.4%) is the main obstacle for fishermen today, followed by technology gaps (27.6%), the quota of diesel subsidies for fishermen is inadequate (14.7%), conflicts between fishermen related to fishing gear and fishing line (12.9%).
As for the political perspective, coastal residents are a strategic group (both in terms of quantity and quality). In terms of quantity, according to survey data, nationally, coastal residents (or those who have activities related to marine and fisheries) are 34.4% or around 68.8 million people if it is assumed that the population aged 17 years and over is around 200 million people. "Meanwhile, in terms of quality, the marine and fishery sector is a support for the national economy, even as an alternative to accelerate the recovery of the post-pandemic national economy. So that future leaders of Indonesia need to look at this group. Including the welfare issues of fishermen need to be considered," said Ali Rif'an. For information, this survey uses the Multistage Random Sampling method. The number of respondents is 1,200 respondents with a margin of error of +/- 2.9% at a 95% confidence level. Interviews were conducted on 14-20 August 2022.
