GORONTALO, INDONESIA / MENA Newswire / — Indonesia will invest heavily in its blue economy and expand fisheries and maritime development, President Prabowo Subianto said during a visit to the Red and White Fishermen’s Village in South Leato, Gorontalo, setting out one of the clearest timetables yet for a nationwide fishing village program. Prabowo said the push reflects strong global demand for animal protein, including fish, and Indonesia’s need to use its marine resources more effectively to raise incomes in coastal communities and support the broader fisheries sector.
Prabowo said the government sees the marine sector as a major economic pillar for the archipelago and that fishermen must be placed at the center of that effort. He described the blue economy as a national investment priority and said Indonesia’s seas should deliver greater benefits to local communities through better access to infrastructure, vessels and distribution systems. The remarks came as the administration continues to frame fisheries development as part of a wider food security drive based on domestic production and marine resources.
At the core of the plan is the Red and White Fishermen’s Village program, which the president said is now targeting 1,386 villages for inauguration across Indonesia by December 2026. He said the government plans to build another 1,000 villages next year and continue annual expansion until reaching the country’s roughly 12,000 fishing villages. The rollout marks an increase from targets outlined earlier this year, when officials had spoken of developing 1,000 fishing villages in 2026 and 5,000 by 2029.
Village rollout accelerates
Prabowo also said the government will provide 1,582 fishing vessels starting this year, with the boats to be distributed through fishermen’s cooperatives under a management scheme to be detailed later. He said the fleet will include small, medium and large vessels. The village program is also being paired with supporting facilities for fishermen, including ice-making units, cold storage and dedicated refueling points, as the government seeks to improve handling, storage and the movement of seafood from landing sites to buyers.
Earlier on Saturday, during a stop in Miangas in North Sulawesi, Prabowo handed over a 15-gross-ton fishing boat with capacity for about five crew members and said a fishing village would also be built there. He said the fisheries sector has become one of the government’s priorities this year and that construction would move quickly. In Miangas, he again linked the program to modern facilities for fishermen, including cold storage and fuel stations intended to support daily operations in remote coastal areas.
Infrastructure buildout advances
The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries said on May 2 that phase one construction at 65 Red and White Fishermen’s Village locations had reached 100 percent completion by the end of April and that the sites were ready for operation. The ministry has described the broader program as an integrated system covering fishing, storage, processing and seafood marketing within a single ecosystem. At the Samber Binyeri pilot site in Biak, Papua, fishermen’s annual productivity rose to 10.85 tons from 5.35 tons, while average days spent at sea increased to 13 from nine.
The latest announcement places those early construction results alongside a sharper national timetable and a larger vessel rollout, giving Indonesia’s blue economy push a more defined operational shape. Prabowo’s remarks in Gorontalo centered on the same message carried through his visits on Saturday: expanding fisheries infrastructure, adding boats and improving village-level facilities as part of a nationwide effort to strengthen the livelihoods of fishermen. Officials have said implementation will continue in stages across coastal communities as the program expands.