Aruna and Astra Released Containers of Local Fishers’ Fishery Products

East Java, Indonesia – On 13 July 2023, Aruna and PT Astra International Tbk released containers of fishery products caught by the Desa Sejahtera Astra (DSA) fishers in Bangkalan, East Java. These fishers were technically fostered by Nusantara Lestari Maritime Foundation. The container containing 20 tons of various fishery product commodities, such as crab, skipjack tuna, pelagic, and demersal fish, was aimed to be processed by the fishery processing industry in Indonesia. 

This agenda was initiated by Aruna to support the downstream part of the local fishery products that would later reach all provinces in the country, from Aceh to Papua. On behalf of Aruna, Maritime Foundation was the facilitator who helped organize DSA. It ultimately aimed to distribute fishery products caught by DSA fishers in order to meet the needs of the fishery processing industry in Indonesia. 

Susi Susanto, the Vice President of Community Development of Aruna, said, “We are very well-aware that Indonesia’s marine commodities are undoubtedly of high quality, the world has even acknowledged it. With this very activity, Aruna expects to support and accelerate the going of this industry—processed products for both international and local markets. We’ve always wanted to enable the availability of demands and markets for local fishers.”

The symbolic agenda of container release was carried out by Dewi Paramita, the Astra CSR Program Manager and Susi Susanto, the Vice President of Community Development Aruna. A number of representatives from several ministries, namely the Director General of Strengthening the Competitiveness of Marine and Fishery Products, Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Budi Sulistyo; the Assistant Deputy for Community Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, Chairul Saleh; and a representative from the Coordinating Ministry of Maritime and Investment, Suhendar. 

The event was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Village, Development of Disadvantaged Regions and Transmigration. They were a team that consisted of young expert policy analysts, the East Java Head of Marine and Fisheries Product Processing and Marketing, the Head of the Marine and Fisheries Service of Sidoarjo, and the Head of the Marine and Fisheries Service of Bangkalan. 

The synergy in the form of DSA built by the Maritime Foundation on behalf of Aruna with PT Astra International Tbk, was dedicated to empowering the fishing and coastal communities. The program focused on the fishers’ productivity through business capital assistance and other sessions of training on environmentally friendly fishing gear, minimum standards of fishery products that must be met, and added-value production to drive up selling power for domestic and global markets.

“The agenda is definitely a form of successful collaboration between the Maritime Foundation and Astra International in developing DSA and local potential in the sector. I hope programs as such can be even more well-established so more remote villages in Indonesia can be covered. That way, we’re willing to help more communities get a better living and promote Indonesian marine to both global and domestic market,” said Dewi Paramita, the CSR Program Manager of Astra International.

Aligned with the program, Aruna managed to bring home two MURI records for the Indonesian fisheries sector. In April 2023, Aruna broke the record in the category of “The Largest Attended Hybrid Education of Sustainable Fishing for Indonesian Fishers”.  Also, in early June 2023, MURI again gave a world record appreciation for the category “Local Creations of Blue Swimming Crab: Serving Dishes with the Most Menu Variants”.