When discussing Abandoned, Lost or Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), attention often focuses on fishers. How can awareness be strengthened? How can damaged fishing gear be brought back to shore instead of being left at sea? These are important questions, and they remain central to ALDFG management. However, during ATSEA’s recent field learning visit to Java, another perspective emerged, one that is often overlooked is about the role of fishing ports and supporting infrastructure.
Fishing gear does not suddenly become marine debris. Once a fishing trip ends, its journey is far from over. After returning to port, damaged fishing gear may be inspected, repaired, stored, traded, transported, recycled, or, when no suitable pathway exists, eventually discarded. Whether it retains its value or becomes waste depends not only on the decisions of fishers, but also on the systems that support it.
This broader journey became much clearer during ATSEA’s visit to Nizam Zachman Fishing Port (Pelabuhan Perikanan Samudera/PPS Nizam Zachman) in Jakarta, Indonesia’s largest oceanic fishing port. Discussion with the Harbour Masters led by Al Fajar Alam, and representatives from the Port Infrastructure and Facilities Division at PPS Nizam Zachman offered a new perspective and highlighted the importance of looking beyond waste collection to consider the entire life cycle of fishing gear.
This became evident throughout the visit. During the discussion, Diki Indra Perdana from the Port Infrastructure and Facilities Division offered a simple but thought-provoking observation.
“Before discussing collection points or dedicated bins for fishing gear, we should first ask whether our ports have been planned to support the entire life cycle of fishing gear”
His message was clear: collection is only one part of the solution. Without an enabling environment on land, including planning, infrastructure and governance, damaged fishing gear is far more likely to fall out of the value chain and eventually become waste.
As Perdana further explained, until the early 2000s, PPS Nizam Zachman had no dedicated facilities for fishing gear management. Fishing ports have traditionally been designed to support fish landing, vessel operations, and fisheries production, while far less attention has been given to what happens when fishing gear reaches the end of its useful life. As a result, activities such as net repair, temporary storage, and gear recovery continue to develop informally rather than as part of the port’s planned infrastructure. Experienced net repair workers have established their own workspaces within unused areas of the port, demonstrating both the importance of these services and the limited space formally allocated for them.
Another lesson from the visit was that infrastructure planning cannot be separated from governance. Dedicated areas for fishing gear handling, repair, storage, and waste management cannot simply be created overnight. They require clear institutional responsibilities, land allocation, and supporting regulations. These may seem like small details, but together they form the foundation for integrating fishing gear management into existing port systems.
This perspective is particularly relevant for ATSEA as we prepare the ALDFG pilot activities in Merauke. Rather than viewing collection as the starting point, there is an opportunity to integrate supporting infrastructure into future planning. Unlike Java, where repair services, collectors, and supporting facilities have evolved over time, Merauke is still at an early stage of developing these enabling conditions. This creates an opportunity to incorporate fishing gear management into Merauke’s port infrastructure planning.
Storage areas, repair spaces, documentation systems, and logistics may appear secondary, but if put together they create the conditions that allow damaged fishing gear to retain its value instead of becoming waste. The learning visit reminded us that tackling ALDFG is not only about changing behaviour of the fishers, it is equally important to designing systems on land. As fisheries move towards a circular economy, fishing ports can play a much bigger role not only as places where fish are landed, but also as places that support the entire life cycle of fishing gear.
By Chyntia Rachmadanti