Sustainable fishing vessel development by prioritising stakeholders engagement in Indonesian small-scale fisheries

Abstract

The attempts to achieve the sustainability of fisheries sector are affected by the existence of the fishing fleets as the principal tool for fishing activities. This thesis reports on research to develop a holistic methodology for ensuring that fishing vessels working in Indonesian waters are themselves sustainable, accordingly it can support the achievement of sustainability of Indonesian fisheries sector. A sustainable fishing vessel can be simply defined as a vessel that fulfils the requirements of the three pillars of sustainability regarding the social, economic and environmental aspects throughout its life cycle. Based on the requirements for the sustainable fishing vessels, and by considering the conditions of most fishing communities in Indonesia, this research project is aimed at proposing an appropriate approach and method to the design of fishing vessels for specific fishing communities, in order to ensure that the implementation of the three pillar of sustainability are considered during the design process. The proposed approach to design a sustainable fishing vessel for a specific fishing community has been developed and tested through a case study in a selected fishing community. An 18 meters length multi-purpose fishing vessel has been designed for fishing community in East Java, Indonesia. In order to increase the acceptability of the proposed vessel, local fishers’ requirements concerning the new design have been elicited. The aesthetic characteristics of traditional fishing vessels and current fishing practices have been adopted and adapted. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the proposed vessel fulfils the requirement for a sustainable fishing vessel, the technologies that can be applied on-board have been assessed in terms of their social acceptability, economic viability and their potential negative impact to the environment. The results of Focus Group Discussions to have local fishers’ views and feedback regarding the proposed design, showed excellent responses from the local fishers. The results show that the initial approach by carefully considering local fishers requirements and conditions without ignoring the potential improvement in the future is the appropriate approach to design fishing vessels for specific fishing communities in Indonesia.