As a maritime country, Indonesia has continued to improve working conditions in fishing sector. In addition to the enactment of the Law No. 15/2016 as the ratification of the ILO’s Maritime Labour Convention, the Indonesian government through the Ministry of Manpower has initiated efforts to strengthen the labour inspectorates and to improve coordination with other relevant regulators.

As part of the ILO support and based on the training request from the Ministry of Manpower of Indonesia on fishing vessel inspection, a five-day training titled “Securing Decent Work for Fishers in Indonesia” was conducted in the last week of August. In addition to the ILO and the Labour Inspection Directorate of the Ministry of Manpower, the training workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries Affairs.

The training workshop were attended by around 25 labour and fishing inspectors from five provinces: DKI Jakarta, North Sumatra, North Sulawesi, Maluku and Bali. These provinces were known for its fishing industries and areas. The training workshop was facilitated by the ILO’s specialists from headquarter as well as regional office: Valkyrie Hanson, Technical Officer of LAB/ADMIN OSH of ILO Geneva; Rene Robert, Senior Labour Inspection Specialist of ILO Regional Office in Bangkok; and Jason Judd, Chief Technical Adviser of Sea to Shore Project in Thailand.

Sugeng Priyanto, Director General of Labour Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health (OSH), emphasized the importance of coordination among government agencies to ensure the realization of decent work in the fishing sector. “The joint collaboration among relevant government agencies are crucial considering the nature of the fishing sector that should be addressed by relevant stakeholders,” he said.

The training workshop focused on improving the participants' ability to apply a strategic compliance planning methodology to the fishing sector in Indonesia. It also focused on reviewing the inspection legal framework and workflow in fishing combined with a training component for inspectors on techniques for improved on-vessel inspections of working and living conditions.

The training workshop provided a venue for participants and facilitators to share best practices and experiences as an effort to strengthen the joint collaboration among relevant organizations and institutions. Various practices and experiences were shared by the Ministry of Coordinating Maritime, Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Maritime and Fishing Affair as well as workers’ and employers’ organization concerning the working conditions in fishing sector.

To examine the real working conditions of the Indonesian fishers, a field visit to Nizam Zachman port in Jakarta was conducted. During the field visit, the participating labour inspectors inspected some fishing vessels and interacted with the fishers. The field visit provided a venue for the participants to apply some of the knowledge gained during the workshop and to better understand the challenges and effective approaches when conducting on-board vessel inspections.

The training workshop was concluded with the draft inspection plan at the provincial level, aimed to strengthen and improve their inspection works. The inspection plan would be evaluated and monitored in the next six months.

“This is the first of a set of activities to craft and implement a strategic compliance action plan in the fishing sector as a means also to help improve the inspectorate's planning function. The ILO would continue supporting Indonesia towards the implementation of strategic compliance of labour inspection in fishing sector,” said Lusiani Julia, the ILO programme officer.