Having The Longest Coastline In Central Java, BMKG Hopes Fishermen In Cilacap Understand Climate Change

Illustration of fishermen looking for fish in the middle of the sea. (doc the Ministry of KKP)

JATENG - Head of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Dwikorita Karnawati hopes fishermen in Cilacap Regency understand the impact of climate change.

Dwikorita said this to fishermen who underwent the 2023 Fisherman's Weather Lapang School (SLCN) in Cilacap, Central Java, Thursday, July 20.

"The consideration is that Cilacap is a very strategic area, especially in terms of productivity in fishing and there are very many fishermen, more than 17 thousand," he said, quoted by Antara.

In addition, he continued, Cilacap has the longest coastline in Central Java and some are directly confronted with the Indian Ocean, so the potential for fish products is also great.

However, he said, the risk in the Indian Ocean is also quite high when compared to the narrow ocean.

"So, the Indian Ocean is also the risk of waves. Especially with climate change, extreme weather conditions, and also climate anomalies are increasingly occurring, the intensity is getting stronger, the duration is getting longer," he said.

In this case, he said, the context of extreme weather conditions in the Indian Ocean is high waves that can be accompanied by heavy rain and strong winds.

"It is certainly very dangerous for the activities of fishermen, so we aim to provide understanding to fishermen to be able to access information about weather conditions and sea waves, current directions, wind," said Dwikorita.

In addition to BMKG Info, he said, all information related to weather conditions in the waters and oceans can be accessed by the Indonesia Weather Information For Shipping (INAWIS) application.

"There it can be seen when there will be high waves, when the waves subside, the direction of the wind can also be known, the location of the fish catch can also be known," he explained.

Thus, he said, fishermen are expected to be able to make plans for more accurate fishing and increased productivity and safety.

Meanwhile, member of Commission V DPR RI Novita Wijayanti expressed her appreciation to BMKG because with a limited budget and divided for all of Indonesia, they can hold SLCN activities and other routine training every year in Cilacap.

He admitted that SLCN activities have been held several times in Cilacap, which has more than 17 thousand fishermen and every year only 100 people participate in it will take a long time to complete.

In this regard, he hopes that representatives who have participated in the training can become agents of the BMKG.

"The BMKG agency helps the tasks of the BMKG provide knowledge and enlightenment to other fishing friends who cannot be here," he said.

Assistant for the Economy and Development of the Cilacap Regional Secretary M. Wijaya hopes that BMKG will not only provide training to fishermen because farmers and other parties also need weather information from the BMKG.

"So, we hope that after training for fishermen, later it can be with others because those who need BMKG information are not just fishermen," he said.

Furthermore, he said the catch in the form of tuna in Cilacap was the best in Indonesia.

However, he said, tuna exports from Cilacap have been carried out through Tanjung Perak Port in Surabaya and Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta.

"If possible, build a container port in Cilacap, so that it will increase the velocity of money in Cilacap more and more, we are more prosperous, fishermen are prosperous, so the price is higher," he explained.