The city of Makassar is well known for its seafood cuisine, which has a distinctive flavor. From grilled fish to a variety of other seafood menus that can be found at affordable prices in every small to large stall, restaurant, cafe, and hotel. In addition to coming from Makassar and its surroundings, the source of fresh fish raw materials is also obtained from other regions in Indonesia, especially the eastern part.

The market demand for fishery products in this city is high enough to dynamically become a business field and become one of the economic drivers in South Sulawesi Province. To ensure the sustainability of businesses and marine resources, Mattirotasi Foundation, a member of JARING-Nusantara, together with the Makassar City Government organized the 2015 Sustainable Seafood Festival titled "Not an Ordinary Fish Market" at Anjungan Pantai Losari on June 7. All pthe yan fisherysold at Sustainable Seafood Festival2015 in Makassarcame from around the South Sulawesi region: reef fish caught by fishermen assisted by JARING-Nusantarain Takalar and tiger shrimp farmed by WWF-Indonesia-assisted groups in Pinrang.

In order to meet the demand of both domestic and international markets, fishermen often catch fish or other fishery products in a destructive way (destructive fishing), namely using bombs, poisons and non-selective fishing gear such as trawl, cantrang, purse seine. Such cases occur in almost all fishing areas in Indonesia. If this condition continues, Indonesia's food security from the fisheries sector for the sustainability of future generations will be threatened.

Besides being an event to campaign for environmentally friendly fishery products, Sustainable Seafood Festival is also used as an effort to build awareness of seafood producers and consumers. They are expected to be wiser in choosing the types of seafood that are suitable and safe to be caught, sold and consumed. This can encourage the improvement of sustainable fisheries practices which then support the stability of Indonesia's food security from the fisheries sector for generations to come.

Representing the Makassar City Government, Deputy Mayor of Makassar Syamsu Rizal, said, "Makassar City Government welcomes the Sustainable Seafood Festival. We hope that activities like this can be held every year together with environmental activists, so that the glory of Makassar as a 'Maritime City' can be lifted and restored."

The event, which was held for the first time in Makassar, was also supported by WWF-Indonesia, Fish'N Blues, as well as communities such as Earth Hour Makassar, Marine Buddies Makassar, Hasanuddin University Fisheries Student Organization, Hasanuddin University Fisheries Alumni Association, KNPI, Learning Center of Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries Management (EAFM) Hasanuddin University, Lanra Link Foundation Makassar, and Lsiel Kie Raha Foundation Ternate.

The people of Makassar who come to buy seafood can interact with the fishermen groups assisted by JARING-Nusantara as producers. Visitors could also enjoy the seafood cooked by the chefs from Hotel Max and Wisma Kalla Makassar. The event was also enlivened by a beach cleanup and a talk show on sustainable fisheries with speakers Dean of the Faculty of Marine and Fisheries, Hasanuddin University, Head of the Makassar City Tourism Office, Academics of the EAFM Learning Center, Hasanuddin University and WWF-Indonesia.

Author: M. Yusuf (National Coordinator for Fisheries Research and Development, WWF-Indonesia)