FIKP UNHAS Established Collaboration with Asia Livelihood Network and Nishinippon Nichimo Co. for Seaweed Development and Plastic Waste Management in Indonesia.

Seaweed is a fishery commodity that is very important in the economic development of communities in coastal areas both on global, regional and local scales. In Indonesia, South Sulawesi Province is the largest seaweed producer and has encouraged economic development and involved very high community participation in the seaweed industry from up to downstream. However, seaweed cultivation also has a very high potential for environmental issues, especially in terms of increasing the amount of plastic waste in the marine ecosystem in the future.

The Faculty of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, Hasanuddin University collaborates with the Asia Livelihood Network and Nishinippon Nichimo Co. to answer and provide solutions to the challenges and problems mentioned above. The choice of this partnership is considered very appropriate because Asia Livelihood Network, a Japan-based NGO has many programs related to social, economic and cultural empowerment of communities and the environment in Asia. In addition, Nishinippon Nichimo Co., is a private company in Western Japan whose main business is fisheries products which also highly concerned with social, economic and environmental issues as well as sustainability.sustainability).

The kick-off of this collaboration was marked by holding an International Symposium themed"Project for Reducing Marine Plastic and Promoting Recovery of Fishery Resources by Improving Rigging Techniques for Seaweed Farming in Sembilan Islands, Indonesia" " in January 15 2024 at the Hasanuddin University FIKP Meeting Room. As the Dean of Marine and Fisheries Science (FIKP), Prof. Safruddin, S.Pi, M.Sc, PhD, officially opened the symposium and invited all participants both offline and online to contribute ideas and real support for this collaboration because the development of seaweed and the issue of plastic waste is a very crucial problem for the future of the world ."As the Keynote speaker",, the Head of the South Sulawesi Province for Marine and Fisheries Affairs, Dr. Muhammad Ilyas, M.Sc, IPU., explained about thethe "Seaweed Development Policy and Strengthening the Blue Economy in South Sulawesi".Following to that, Fumiko Kawae, PhD, the Chairwomen of Asia Livelihood Network, explained about the cooperation scheme and followed by a session by Mr. Satoshi Ikeda and Mr. Syuichi Imai, who presented"The Fisheries Industry in Japan--Welcoming Sustainable Fisheries".In the"Invited Speakers" Session,Andi Amri, PhD--FIKP Lecturer explained about"Seaweed Cultivation and the Problem of Plastic Waste--Socio-Economic Opportunities and Environmental Challenges"then continued with a presentation from the Director of the MACCA Institute-NGO based in Sinjai Regency, Abdul Rahman, MA, who spoke a lot about"Improving the Community's Economy and Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Fisheries"with a Case Study of Sembilan Islands, Sinjai Regency. Symposium participants provided many inputs and suggestions not only regarding the symposium material but also models of this collaboration in the future.

After the symposium, the Collaboration Team, i.e., FIKP, Asia Livelihood Network and Nishinippon Nichimo Co. - led by Andi Amri, PhD continued to survey the project location and stayed with the community for 1 week in Pulau Harapan Village, Kambuno Island, Sinjai. Whilst at the location, the Team explored the Nine Archipelago (4 Villages) to identify problems and looking for alternative solutions related to seaweed cultivations, plastic wastes, sustainable fisheries, etc. The Head of Pulau Harapan Village (Mukrimin, S.Hi), the Head of SMK Negeri 4 Sinjai Regency (Baharuddin, S.Sos, SPdi, MSi.), Police officers, as well as the entire community in the Sembilan Archipelago, really support this collaboration program. This program however, will last for one year and will be funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). "Over the course of one year, we hope to find formulas, innovations and technologies that are appropriate and solutions to the development of seaweed cultivation, plastic waste and sustainable fisheries that support the Sustainable Development GoalsSustainable Development Goals(SDGs) and can involve wider stakeholders, stakeholders especially in terms of funding for the sustainability of this collaboration program in the future. We really hope that the model in the Sembilan Archipelago can be applied in other places throughout coastal areas and small islands in Indonesia," said Andi Amri.