The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) has disbursed IDR 163 billion to boost the capture fisheries sector in North Sulawesi during 2020-2024. This province is known as one of the largest fish producers in Indonesia, especially tuna and skipjack. Acting Director General of Capture Fisheries, Lotharia Latif said that the assistance reaching around IDR 163 billion was distributed through the KKP program directly or in the form of special allocation funds (DAK) to provincial and regional governments. "Throughout 2020-2024, KKP has disbursed assistance in the capture fisheries sub sector with a total of more than IDR 163 billion," said Latif (15/4/2025). The programs in question range from increasing catches, protecting fishermen, to repairing and building port infrastructure managed by the local government. Furthermore, Latif said that the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has distributed program assistance to the construction of tens of thousands of cubic meters of wave breakers in a number of fishing ports managed by the local government.
He added that service activities for fishermen at the Bitung Ocean Fishing Port (PPS) as one of the main centers of capture fisheries in North Sulawesi also reflect the optimization of the use of central government support. This can be seen from the number of ships docked and carrying out operational activities which reached 1,083 units until early 2024. In addition, the Bitung PPS program, namely the training of Fishing Vessel Crew (AKP), has reached 13,899 fishermen. On the other hand, fishing vessel licensing in North Sulawesi has also grown positively. Meanwhile, until April 13th, 2025, the value of PNBP that had been collected reached IDR 16.04 billion. And the fisheries production from these vessels reached 75,579 tons. The central government hopes that it can be maintained to strengthen the capture fisheries sector in North Sulawesi.
