Challenges Encountered By Small Scale Fish Farmers In Assuring Fish Product Sustainability

Abstract

The aquaculture industry is developing tremendously over the past two decades following the significant decline of the world’s fish catch. Nevertheless, small scale fish farmers are still one of the most vulnerable communities in Indonesia. In their attempt to carry out successful aquaculture business, small scale fish farmers encounter several challenges that inhibit the fish farmers in ensuring the sustainability of fish products. This research aims to explore challenges and identify internal and external challenges that affect fish farmers’ activities in ensuring fish product sustainability. This research used a quantitative approach by collecting data through questionnaire distribution to small scale fish farmers in Central Java and data was analyzed using statistical analysis package. The findings of this research showed that challenges are classified into nine internal and seven external challenges. Result of statistical analysis indicated that internal challenges influenced product sustainability through water quality examination, whereas external challenges influenced product sustainability through two activities, i.e. giving feed at the right quantity and time, and maintain fish seed quality and availability.

The impact of aquaculture field school on the shrimp and milkfish yield and income of farmers in Demak, Central Java

“…Considering an average operational cost of 240 ± 400 USD ha −1 year −1 , the farmer's average gross income was 600 ± 760 USD ha −1 year −1 ; the 36 farmers stocking both milkfish and shrimp earned 630 ± 650 USD ha −1 year −1 after having spent 420 ± 1,130 USD ha −1 year −1 (Ariyati et al 2016). Originally, most of these brackish water pond farmers were either fishermen or traditional rice farmers, who by lack of knowledge, disregarded the importance of mangrove forest (Bosma, Sidik, Zwieten, Aditya, & Visser, 2012), and by lack of proper training, do not apply good aquaculture management practices (Elfitasari & Albert, 2017).…”

A cross‐over experiment for on‐farm evaluation of a novel pond aquaculture aeration device

“…Globally, it is estimated that 41 million people are involved in small‐scale aquaculture economies, providing important food and economic security benefits to rural and peri‐urban households (Das & Mandal, 2022). Although smallholder aquaculture is prevalent across South and Southeast Asia and parts of Sub‐Saharan Africa, for financial and technical reasons, it is often difficult for smallholders to achieve the yields that can be realized with larger, more intensively managed aquaculture (Duijn et al, 2018; Elfitasari & Albert, 2017; Joffre et al, 2018; Obiero et al, 2019; Richardson & Suvedi, 2018; Rimmer et al, 2013; Shoko et al, 2019). In Bangladesh, aquaculture contributes 56.8% of all fish production and constitutes 14.6% of the country's agricultural GDP (Department of Fisheries Bangladesh, 2020).…”

Choosing floating macrophytes for ecological intensification of small-scale fish farming in tropical areas: a methodological approach

“…In Indonesia, small scale fish farming is prominent and represents more than 80% of aquaculture farms (Phillips et al, 2015). Nevertheless it is considered as vulnerable and small scale fish farming faces several challenges in terms of sustainability, particularly regarding quality and availability of fish feeds (Elfitasari and Albert, 2017). Despite a relatively low level of individual production (1.4 tons per year per fish farmer in Indonesia), small-scale farming is, in Indonesia such elsewhere, considered as a "cash-crop" production (Kawarazuka and Béné, 2010) and fish and shellfish generally represent a significant part of consumer expenditures in lowincome countries (Tacon and Metian, 2018).…”