Solar Rare, Fishermen's Catch Production Declines

Fishermen in Makassar find it difficult to get diesel (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The scarcity of diesel fuel and the increase in the price of the type of fuel that many fishermen need affect the production of fish caught by fishermen in the Paotere Fish Auction Area, Makassar. Fishermen admit that it is difficult to go to sea.

"Solar is difficult to obtain in the field, even if there is a long line and the price goes up. This condition makes it difficult for us to go to sea," said one fisherman, Nurdin, in Buloa Village, Tallo District, Makassar, quoted from ANTARA, Saturday, April 9.

He said that when the need for fish consumption increased during the holy month of Ramadan, his income was reduced because he was limited to the sea, due to the difficulty of getting diesel fuel.

According to him, even if they are forced to go to sea, it is not worth the operational costs that must be incurred, so that some fishermen who usually sell their captured fish production at TPI Paotere, are forced to stay at home.

The same thing was stated by fishermen from Pajjenekang Island, Pangkep Regency, Mustamine. He said that when the conditions were all limited, he was forced to only repair damaged trawls. Meanwhile, to meet their daily consumption needs, they are forced to borrow from the local Fisherman's Cooperative.

"Of course this will burden us, because we have to accumulate debt at a time when the demand for fish and seafood increases during Ramadan," he said.

In this regard, he hopes that the government will be responsive to this condition, not just dealing with cooking oil.

This was confirmed by the chairman of the Fisher Association partnering TPI Paotere, Daeng Aco. He said the fishing community, which incidentally is a small community, must also get special attention by stabilizing the supply of diesel fuel, including maintaining price stability.