IPB Students Help Fishermen of Palabuhan Ratu to Get Capital
Capital in the form of facilities and production factors to support fishing such as fishing vessels, fishing gear, fuel and supplies is very important for fishermen to catch fish. The size of the capital can affect the catch rate obtained by fishermen and ultimately will affect the sales of the catch.
The complexity of the fishermen’s poverty problem occurs because they live in a harsh natural atmosphere, especially weather factor of uncertainty in doing their business. This makes the fishermen neglected by banking institutions and insurance companies. The challenge in the search for the capital makes it difficult for the fishermen to go fishing on the sea until finally they seek capital through a quick process and without collateral, but eventually unsuspectingly they will experience loss. The providers of such capital are commonly referred to as middlemen or pengijon, who under certain conditions create a monopoly system because they provide capital and production factors to determine the marketing of fish.
Such a condition is faced by the fishermen in Palabuhan Ratu, Sukabumi regency, West Java. Seeing this, Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) students through the Student Creativity Program (PKM) is trying to offer solutions to the problem. They are Audita Diah Sabrina, Ari Kurniawan, Yoga Nugraha and Alief Restu Budimana who initiated a concept of ??capital pattern for the fishermen. The topic of their study is " Capital Pattern of and its Relation to Fishing Season" (A Study of Fishermen Community at Fishing Port of Palabuhanratu, Sukabumi) ".
"We use a survey method to collect information on capture fishing and capital pattern in the area. The data are obtained from questionnaires, interviews and field observations directly to fishermen and related parties," said Audita, a student of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences (FPIK) of IPB.
He said the results of this study would have positive information and input for policy makers dealing with the economic development of fishermen communities, especially in increasing the share of fisheries sector and the development of an advanced maritime of Indonesia so that an appropriate capital pattern can cover the fishermen’s needs for going to the sea and fishing.
Further, the data and information related to the fishing season given to the fishermen will protect them from bad weather conditions and change uncertainty to certainty to get good results of their fishing. (Mtd)
