A seafood night market runs each evening on the banks of the canalised Kali Mas river that flows through Surabaya, a port city located in the east of Java Island. Stacked for sale are thousands of salted fish wrapped in bamboo baskets, a traditional Indonesian preservation methodIJARIIE – A review on traditional packaging of fishery products, 2022. The salting of fish is one of the oldest food-preservation techniques in human history. Salt draws moisture from fish flesh, which can contain up to 80% water,Food and Agriculture Organization – Fish salting 101: What you need to know, 2021 slowing bacterial growth and allowing storage without refrigeration for extended periods of time.

Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation with more than 17,000 islandsEmbassy of The Republic of Indonesia in Berlin – Facts about Indonesia stretching between the Pacific and Indian oceans. The country has seen its fishing fleet expand rapidly; it nearly doubledWRI Indonesia – Trends in Marine Resources and Fisheries Management in Indonesia, 2022 over a decade to 1.1 millionFood and Agriculture Organization – The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2024 in 2022, making Indonesia the world’s second-largest catcher of marine fish after China. Although small-scale coastal fishers make up most of the sector, and Presidential Decree No. 39 of 1980Database Peraturan BPK – Peraturan Perundang-undangan, 1980 prohibiting trawling, the catch of marine species across the Southeast Asian country has nearly quadrupledFood and Agriculture Organization – The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2024 since the 1980s.

The ban on trawling in Indonesian waters has long been undermined by weak enforcement, regulatory loopholes, and the use of trawl-like fishing gear. As a result, the towing of nets through the water column or along the seafloor continued at scale. For example, trawlers targeting fish conducted more than 500,000 operationsSoutheast Asian Fisheries Development Center – National report on bycatch management and reduction of discard, 2010 in Indonesia in 2008. The regulatory framework has reversed repeatedly in recent years, and trawling was reauthorised in 2023Mongabay – Unchecked illegal trawling pushes Indonesia’s small-scale fishers to the brink, 2025 beyond an exclusion zone of 22 kilometers near the shore. The updated policy includes bottom trawling.National Law School of India University – Tracing the Enviro-Legal Framework for Bottom Trawling, 2021

The method is among the most destructive forms of fishing. It ravages seabedUnited States Geological Survey – The global impact of bottom trawling, 2016 ecosystems where vast amounts of Earth-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) are stored within sediments that are often described as the “ultimate long-term carbon store”. A 2024 study found that up to 60%Frontiers in Marine Science – Atmospheric CO2 emissions and ocean acidification from bottom-trawling, 2024 of the CO2 ​released from seabed sediments by bottom trawling operations makes its way to the atmosphere over a period of seven to nine years, contributing to accelerating global climate change. The remaining 40% dissolves in seawater, exacerbating ocean acidification.

While industrial trawlers routinely violateMongabay – Unchecked illegal trawling pushes Indonesia’s small-scale fishers to the brink, 2025 the exclusion zone reserved for small-scale fishers, the Indonesian government launched the Gemarikan program to encourage an increaseKementerian Kelautan dan Perikanan – Komisi IV DPR Berdayakan UMKM Perikanan lewat Program Gemarikan di Yogya, 2025 in fish consumption among consumers, including those at the night market along the Kali Mas river. It also plans to build 5,000Sekretariat Kabinet Republik Indonesia – Gov’t to Develop 1,000 Fishing Villages This Year, 2025 integrated fishing villages across the country by 2029 to streamline the seafood supply chain from catch to consumer. ​​After quadrupling over six decades, per-capita fish consumption in Indonesia already stands at more than twiceOur World in Data – Fish and seafood consumption per capita, 2025 the global average. “The more fish we eat, the more income fishermen and fish sellers earn,” an official claimed. Yet, the statement fails to account for the pressure the Indonesian fishing fleet already places on fish populations; about three-quarters are already fully exploitedThe Jakarta Post – Better care for locals and the ocean to make Indonesia’s blue economy more viable, 2023 or overfished.