DILI, 11 july 2022 (TATOLI) – José da Silva, a fisher, from Bidau Santa Ana, asked the Government Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) to provide them with training in fishing skills to improve their fishing methods.
“We never participate in any training on how to fish properly, we only used the basic and traditional experience to catch the fish but we didn’t have any other method to catch fish,” he said.
Therefore, da Silva said, training is important to improve the skills of fishers by using different baiting methods.
“The lack of training in fishing skills has an impact on the limited number of fish products, therefore fishing skills training is very important for fishers because, with adequate training, the fishers will have sufficient ability to use these methods to bait more fish and supply to supermarkets and consumers,”
da Silva explained, that all the fishers in Timor-Leste only have limited facilities such as a small fishing boat which is traditionally made, and nets, which limits access to reef fisheries.
“Since the fishers only use nets and small fishing boats, they only get limited fish,” he said.
At the same time, da silva said, because the fishers also have limited knowledge about the weather, this has become another challenge that commonly faces, and the bad weather will affect the fishing activities: “During the bad wheater we limit our fishing activities, but sometimes we don’t know about the weather situations, and fishers continue fishing in the sea, and that will be impacted to our lives” he said.
Based on his experience, da Silva asked the Government’s MAF, to provide training to all Timorese fishers to increase their knowledge of fishing and the weather.
“We wish MAF will provide the training on fishing skills and provide the information on whether situations particularly for the fishers to know the right time to catch fish,” he said.
Meanwhile, the new research by WorldFish, highlight that the fisheries sector in Timor-Leste can be a crucial path out of poverty and boost well-being, particularly for the rural poor who live near the coast.
However the coastal fisheries – which are often an important source of food, income, and nutrition in many developing countries – are underdeveloped in Timor-Leste.
These findings highlighted that only Very few of Timor-Leste’s 1.2 million population identify themselves as fishers, and it has been said of the Timorese that they “turn their backs on the sea”. Fishing is labor-intensive, utilizing rudimentary gears from paddle boats that limit access to reef fisheries, which are showing signs of decline. In contrast, the pelagic stocks just out of reach remain unexploited, accessible only to those with a motor boat and advanced gears.
Further, fishing as a livelihood is far less vulnerable to external factors, such as severe climatic events, or pests and diseases, than other livelihoods.
Journalist: Camilio de Sousa
Editor : Nelia Borges
