Is it possible to eradicate poverty in the fishermen village?

Indonesia is one of the countries with the longest coastline in the world and an archipelago with abundant marine wealth. Policy development and management of coastal and marine areas should be able to contribute to the welfare of fishermen and able to improve their livelihoods. However, most of the fishermen in Indonesia are still under the poverty line. The National Committee of Indonesian Fishermen Organisation (KPNNI) in 2009 states that approximately 90% of fishermen in Indonesia live in poverty.This study aims to describe the conditions and problems faced by fishermen and evaluate government policies and programs related to improving the welfare of fishermen and eradicating poverty. This study applies qualitative research methods and case studies. The study area is a fishing settlement located in the Blimbing Village, Paciran district, Lamongan, East Java. Data collection using interviews, observations method and secondary survey (literature study). In this study, the first step is to elaborate and describe the conditions and problems faced by fishermen in the study area. The next step is to evaluate the implementation of development policies and programs to determine whether the policies and programs can help solve the problems faced by the fishermen or not.The result shows that poverty is still a major problem faced by the fishermen in the study area. Poverty is evident in economic life of the fisherman and their housing condition. Basically, the problems faced by the fishermen can be classified into two general problems, namely (1) the problems encountered related to socio-economic life of fishermen and (2) the problems related to the physical condition of housing/settlement area. In terms of socio-economic sustainability of the profession as a fishermen, the problems faced include low income, limited capital and fishing equipment, low education level and lack of skill and technology. While in terms of physical condition of the fishermen settlement area, the problems faced include lack of basic services, lack of water supply and inadequate sanitation, poorly maintained environmental conditions as well as conditions of fisherman housing that looks slum and unhealthy.In an effort to improve the welfare of the fishermen and poverty eradication, local governments have established some policies and development programs. Our study shows that the implementation of the policies and programs has not been able to overcome the problems faced by fishermen and not been able to eradicate fisherman poverty. Government assistance given to fishermen are often not effective and not appropriate with the needs of the fishermen.