By: Usmawati Anggita Sakti (Communication Assistant Seafood Savers)

The trend of eco-friendly products is increasing in line with the growing public awareness about the importance of sustainability of natural resources. Various parties are voicing to reduce the use of plastic, use certified products such as wood products, cooking oil and also seafood. This includes WWF-Indonesia's #BeliYangBaik campaign program and Seafood Savers, which conducts campaigns for sustainable seafood products in several major cities in Indonesia.

If last year Jakarta and Surabaya became the location of the activity, starting 2018 Seafood Savers campaigned seafood in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Makassar is one of the strategic cities for this campaign given the number of hotels and restaurants that have the potential to commit to an environmentally friendly seafood business according to Seafood Savers membership rules. In addition, the campaign in Makassar will work together with Seafood Savers members and communities engaged in environmental awareness, namely Marine Buddies and Earth Hour Makassar.

Talkshow and Mini Fishing Games

The high enthusiasm of the people in Makassar City for the socialization of the movement to choose environmentally friendly seafood is evidenced by the success of two types of campaigns taking place on April 6-13, 2018.

The first campaign was a talkshow with resource persons from the Fisheries Service of South Sulawesi Province, local Seafood Savers member companies PT Bogatama Marinusa, a shrimp farming company, and Celebes Seaweed Group, a seaweed farming company, WWF-Indonesia and representatives of the JARING Nusantara fishermen association. A total of 62 people representing hotels, seafood restaurants and the media attended the talkshow and engaged in a discussion of the current seafood business in Makassar.

"Seeing the trend of consumers who are willing to buy quality products at high prices, restaurants and hotels or modern markets must also be guaranteed by having certification and this is what we have to build together. We from the government have tried to implement it, that every business actor for the production sector has a proper processing certification," said Dr. Siti Zuleha Soebarini, Head of UPTD of the Marine and Fishery Product Quality Testing and Development Center.

In addition to the discussion, the talkshow which took place on April 5 also presented a cooking demo of Makassar specialties, namely Snapper Pallu Kaci and Aglio Shrimp Spagetti. The cooking demo using snapper products from Fish'n Blues and shrimp from PT Bogatama Marinusa is an example of a fusion of seafood dishes that are caught and processed with environmentally friendly aspects in mind while still maintaining local flavors.

Continuing the campaign series, from April 6 to April 12, 2018 Seafood Savers collaborated with Marine Buddies community and Earth Hour Makassar to open booths at Mall Ratu Indah, Losari Beach and Car Free Day Losari. Shopping centers and crowds are chosen because they are strategic places to educate seafood consumers who come from different backgrounds. The campaign will focus on providing education on the importance of consuming responsible seafood products as well as an invitation to follow Seafood Savers' latest information through Seafood Savers' social media.

The campaign is carried out through a fishing game Mini Fishing Games which challenges visitors to catch as many fish as possible in a short time, but must pay attention to the status of the fish whether it is worth catching or not. After playing, visitors will get education about several types of fish status that can be caught and also those that can be consumed.

The Talskhow and shopping campaign is expected to further increase the recognition and awareness of hotels, retailers, restaurants and consumers in Makassar towards certified seafood products. In addition, it is expected to create collaboration between stakeholders towards the realization of the program's main objectives through Seafood Savers membership cooperation. By doing so, businesses can run the CoCIP (Chain of Custody Improvement Program) improvement program towards COC (Chain of Custody) certification and become responsible and sustainable seafood businesses.