Susi Pudjiastuti
Background:
Susi Pudjiastuti was born in Pangandaran, 15 January 1965. Having close ties with the ocean ever since her childhood, Susi built PT ASI Pudjiastuti, a fisheries export company. She was then appointed as the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries under President Joko Widodo’s administration in 2014-2019. A sovereign ocean, sustainable fisheries and prosperous society is the mission Susi Pudjiastuti sets to pursue.
Ocean story:
The ocean has been a part of Susi’s life since her childhood. During her time running her fisheries business, she experienced the moment when it was hard to get fish. Later when she became Minister, Susi found out that Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (IUUF) was the main cause of the issue that she and all Indonesian fisherman encountered. IUUF caused Indonesia a great loss. The ocean was overfished, fish stock was depleted because our ocean’s resources weren’t able to regenerate, and fishermen strived to get fish. The desire to defend the ocean is enormous as Susi made enforcement as the priority of the government’s agenda. Susi believes that in order to preserve our ocean for future generations to come, IUUF has to be eradicated sooner than later. This enforcement has shown significant transformations as the fish stock have started to replenish and fishermen now find it easier to capture fish. According to Susi, what has been done until now has to be sustained to prevent similar events in the future. Therefore, she is committed to continue and support the eradication effort of IUUF practice to preserve our ocean.
Loving the ocean also means an effort to reduce plastic waste in the ocean. Everytime Susi had the chance to paddle in the sea, she found a lot of single-use plastics floating or sometimes stuck on the reef. If the habit of throwing garbage to the sea or river continues, we will have more plastic than fish in the near future.
Ocean Pride:
Most of Indonesia’s territory consist of the ocean, and it has been a unifying instrument of the country, from Sabang to Merauke. As the biggest archipelagic country, Indonesia possesses incredible marine resources. These resources need to be preserved for future generation to enjoy. Susi believes that preserving the ocean is a huge task to make the ocean as the future of this country. Thus, a firm commitment is needed from all elements of the society to reduce the usage of single-use plastic, to be responsible and wise in capturing the ocean’s resources, not only using an environmentally-friendly fishing gear, but also conduct a legal, reported, and regulated fishing activities anywhere in the world.