By: Usmawati Anggita Sakti (Seafood Savers Communication Assistant)

Efforts to conserve marine resources in Indonesia have been carried out in various schemes. One of them is through the Seafood Savers cooperation program with fishing industry players to improve their fishing activities. Considering that improvement efforts require support from various stakeholders,then Seafood Savers and PT Sekar Laut Tbk held an action campaign for environmentally friendly processed seafood with the theme "Responsible Seafood for Healthy Living". The event, held at Finna Gift Shop, Surabaya on October 17, 2017, aims to invite local seafood businesses, hotels and supermarkets in Surabaya to be more actively involved in the improvement program.

With an agenda of talkshow and cooking demo, the campaign which was attended by 35 people also invited 2 members of Seafood Savers producers. The two members who were invited to enjoy the sensation of responsible seafood are PT Sekar Laut Tbk (Finna Food) for shrimp crackers and PT SEA Indonesia (Fish'n Blues) for tuna products.

The talkshow session, which was presented by the Marine and Fisheries Service of East Java Province, WWF-Indonesia, PT Sekar Laut Tbk and PT SEA Indonesia, produced several perspectives on environmentally friendly fisheries management. For example, efforts to improve fisheries are the result of the work of all stakeholders including consumers and the results of a survey conducted by WWF-Indonesia show that 63% of consumers in 5 cities in Indonesia want to buy ecolabel certified products.

The survey results can indirectly encourage fisheries business players to provide more value to fishermen who catch fish properly. Consumers will also be proud to buy products that are certified environmentally friendly, so that the hope for a better cycle can be realized. On the other hand, the government as the policy holder of all fisheries activities has made regulations that support fisheries sustainability programs where the role of the community is also important in monitoring the sea.

"The role of the government alone is not enough to oversee fisheries activities. The community has an important role to play in monitoring and urging hotel and supermarket owners to reject seafood catch that is not in accordance with the rules. If these things can be achieved, we can be sure that our fishermen will also catch in accordance with applicable regulations." Said Nurwahidah, East Java Maritime and Fisheries Service for Marketing and Processing of Fishery Products.

PT Sekar Laut Tbk and Fish'n Blues consider the participation of business people in the Seafood Savers program as one of the efforts of creating positive demand where producers are able to supply retailers with the best products and of course environmentally friendly, and have a clear origin of fish.

"The production of responsible products is a form of Finna's appreciation for consumers. Finna wants the best for consumers and our nature." Said William Chung, PT Sekar Laut Tbk.

At the end of the event, in addition to getting information about various efforts to conserve marine resources, invited guests were also able to directly experience seafood which is implementing improvements in fisheries activities in the fishing process. The event, which also included a cooking demo, was hosted by public figure and Finna Food's brand ambassador, Nicky Tirta. In his presentation, Nicky paired Fish'n Blues' premium tuna with Finna Food's crackers and chili sauce. The hope is that through this event, more and more fisheries industry business players in Surabaya and in Indonesia in general will be actively involved in efforts to conserve marine resources.