SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF FISHERIES COMMUNITIES AND ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY FISHING EQUIPMENT IN BATANG DISTRICT, INDONESIA

Capture fisheries development programs in an effort to improve welfare must reflect the effort to preserve their resources. The purpose of this study is to study the characteristics of fishing communities and environmentally friendly fishing equipment in Batang District. This study was conducted for 6 months started in April of 2018. The benefits of this study are as one of the efforts to assist the Government in developing environmentally friendly capture fisheries. This was descriptive analysis research with a case study conducted to the fishing community in Batang district. The analysis used to assess the socio-economic characteristics is a descriptive analysis. The analysis of environmentally friendly fishing equipment, a qualitative analysis was used by scoring based on 9 CCRF criteria. The results of social-economic characteristics of fishing communities indicate that there are socio-economic stratification, patron-client relations, dependence on natural and seasonal resources, hard workers, strong customs and beliefs, but many are low educated. The results of the assessment of environmentally friendly fishing equipment indicate that the most environmentally friendly fishing equipment is bubu with a score of 3.58. Gill net and trammel net are classified as environmentally friendly fishing equipment with a score of 3.23 and 3.12 respectively. Moreover, Arad is environmentally friendly fishing equipment with a score of 1.97 because the operation of arad will damage the bottom of the water and the catch is not selective. Recommendations can be given are the need for counseling on the importance of using environmentally friendly fishing equipment and the government needs to provide direction and assistance to arad fishermen to switch to environmentally friendly fishing equipment