Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has reaffirmed its commitment to developing the Red and White Fishing Villages programme, with a focus on capacity-building training for coastal communities.
According to I Nyoman Radiarta, Head of the ministry’s Marine and Fisheries Human Resources Extension and Development Agency, the training extends beyond fishing techniques to include catch management and marketing skills.
He noted that each Red and White Fishing Village is designed with a community hall that serves as a centre for learning and coordination among fishers, cooperative managers and fisheries extension officers.
Radiarta explained that extension officers are tasked with identifying the most urgent needs of local communities, enabling training content to be tailored to specific local conditions and challenges.
The training programme targets both fishers and managers of Red and White Village Cooperatives, which are considered a key pillar of the initiative. Strengthening cooperative management is expected to support more effective and sustainable fisheries value chains, from harvesting to marketing.
The Red and White Fishing Village programme aims to empower coastal communities while stimulating local economic growth. In addition to human resources development, the initiative places strong emphasis on infrastructure investment to support daily fishing activities, including the construction of docks, roads, drainage systems and electricity networks.
Fishing villages under the programme will also be equipped with supporting facilities such as cold storage units, ice-making plants, repair workshops, logistics outlets and fuel stations for fishing vessels.
The ministry said the first phase of the programme is being implemented at 65 locations nationwide, with a second phase adding 35 more sites, before scaling up to 1,000 fishing villages by 2029. Of these, 35 Red and White Fishing Villages are expected to be completed by the end of January 2026, except in disaster-affected areas, where completion is scheduled for February./.
