Early in June, Indonesia celebrated Coral Triangle Day on June 9 with this year’s theme “Balancing Conservation and Blue Economy” that also acknowledges the indispensable role of women in fisheries and marine resources conservation. In Rembang District, Central Java, a group of women are embodying this theme as they advocate for more sustainable BSC fisheries in Central Java.

Like most women fishers and fishermen wives in Indonesia, the women involved in Blue Swimming Crab fisheries in Rembang district, Central Java province, play a crucial role in supporting their husbands in the preparation and post-capture phases of BSC fisheries. These includes preparing fishing needs, placing bait in traps, removing crabs from nets, repairing nets, and processing and selling BSCs and other by-products. However, the women go the extra mile by advocating for sustainable BSC fisheries in various ways. They combine these tasks with household duties while maintaining their aspirations for their children’s future.

Tri Asih, also known as Asih, expressed, “My most favorite lesson from CTC’s training is BSC ecology because it is relevant to me as a wive of a BSC fisherman. I taught my husband why we should not catch small crabs and egg-bearing crabs to ensure their sustainability. The communications course is also applicable in my daily life. Now I’m confident to talk even to people from outside the village about BSC. If in the future CTC will carry out more training for us, we’d love to learn new things as well, such as how to empower ourselves to voice our opinions and teach our children to pursue higher education so they can have better lives“.

The women are alumni of a series of trainings provided by the Coral Triangle Center (CTC) working with Marine Affairs and Fisheries Agency (or DKP) Rembang district since 2023. The training program aimed to build the capacity of the women involved in BSC fisheries to be local champions in Central Java province. The training programs, included topics on sustainable fishing particularly focused on Blue Swimming Crabs, building local sustainable businesses from their marine resources, and strengthening their leadership roles so they can participate in their community’s decision-making process. In April this year, seven of these women champions joined 30 other women leaders from across Indonesia to participate in the Indonesia’s Women’s Network on Fisheries and Marine Conservation in Bali.

Nur Chriswatun Nida shared, “I have never dreamed of being involved in such activities. After two years (of planning), the learning event finally took place. I treasure the experience, from flying to Bali in an airplane to meeting, sharing experiences, and making new friends with so many inspiring women from other parts of Indonesia. I took what I learned home and tried to implement them. I’m looking forward to participating in CTC’s future events and trainings”.

Building Rembang’s women leaders’ capacity is well aligned with one of the training strategies of the Indonesia Blue Economy Roadmap aiming to secure equal opportunity and roles by women in the supply chain of marine capture fisheries such as BSC in Central Java province. Key capacity building programs improve women’s skills include fish technologies and production methods as well as financial and marketing management.

As trainers, these women, equipped with new skills and knowledge, will train, empower, and assist fellow women fishers and fisher wives involved in BSC fishery in Rembang district in improving their livelihoods as well as increasing their participation and market access.

Margiati, one of the women fishers, proudly said that she has used any opportunities to share what she has learned with others, from inviting them to study, sharing about BSC during the women Qur’an reading activities, and teaching her pre-school students about the importance of BSC and their healthy habitat in the village.

Utilizing available resources, they also initiate various activities such as regular village clean-up, opening new small business, building a simple waste facility using available bamboo and tarpaulin, and most importantly, raise awareness about the importance of BSC and their healthy habitat and sustainable use of fishing gears.

It is pivotal to appreciate how these women trainers have effectively communicated key messages about BSC fishing practices while improving their livelihoods. Such success story will serve as lessons learned for specifically women crab fishers in other areas and coastal communities in general.

The Blue Economy Framework cites UN Women saying that 37%, in contrast to 10% data compiled by the Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF), of 12.2 million people employed in blue economy in Indonesia are women. Regardless the differences in data, the role of women in the sector is pivotal as most are still small-scale businesses. Thus, their roles help ensure the future growth of Indonesia’s blue economy sectors that will also be beneficial to fishing community.

Although the training program has been completed last year, the lessons and inspiration to lead by example remain strong among these women champions. Inspired by their experience from the learning exchange program, these women continue to train other women who did not have the opportunity to join CTC capacity building programs. These include two business model canvas (BMC) trainings in Gunung Wetan, one BSC ecology in each Gedungmulyo and Tunggulsari.

These women champions expressed the same hopes: They feel like there is new knowledge and skills they would like to learn, like the sustainable BSC fisheries method using crab apartments. They also urged for law enforcement by authorities to address waste problems and the use of unsustainable fishing gear to achieve sustainable BSC fisheries in the district.

The two-years’ experience implementing capacity building program for BSC women in Rembang district, it is evident that when given tools and training, they can be agents of change. Strengthening the role of women and promoting gender equality in BSC fisheries are well aligned with Indonesia’s policy direction to achieve blue economy in Indonesia.

Dr. Hesti Widodo, CTC’s Senior Program Manager shared, “Women fishers are critical contributors to the fisheries supply chain, involved in every stage from fishing to processing post-harvest products. It is essential to recognize and address the barriers preventing them from voicing their ideas and making decisions on (marine) resource management like blue swimming crabs. It is imperative to proactively empower this group from the outset of program implementation, by employing strategies that actively promote their participation and facilitate knowledge exchange, ultimately ensuring that decision-making is inclusive”.

Blue swimming crab (BSC) ranks the third most important export fishery product after tuna and shrimp in Indonesia, contributing $308,827,461(USD) to the national GDP, and employing about 90,000 fishermen and 185,000 pickers. BSC marine capture and aquaculture is also one of eight priority sectors in the Indonesia Blue Economy Development Framework 2023-2045 with a particular attention given to the role of women in blue economy.

The seven alumni of the CTC training program from Rembang also had the opportunity to go to Bali for a 5-day learning exchange program. They shared experiences and learned about self-development and marine conservation with other alumni from CTC and partner training programs. Check out this link for the video: bit.ly/LXwomenfisheriesmarineconservation

Writers: Olivia Sope, Adam Putra, Silvianita Timotius, Hesti Widodo
Photos: Adam Putra/CTC, Silvianita Timotius/CTC, Nadia Qurotha/CTC