Resilience Strategy of Fishermen in Sendang Biru Coastal Area, Indonesia During the Covid-19 Pandemic

In 2020, the International Labor Organization reported a global decline in the number of commercial fishing due to the Covid-19 pandemic that hit almost the entire population of the world in 2019. Large-scale social restrictions and lockdowns were imposed in several countries to prevent the spread of the virus. This policy then impacted human mobilization and affected the social-economic activities of several sectors, including fishery. Some fishers, particularly small-scale fishermen suffered from economic difficulties caused by the pandemic. Fishermen in Sendang Biru, Indonesia, were no exception. Using the mixed methods of quantitative and qualitative approaches, this study investigated the impact of Covid-19 on fishermen in Sendang Biru and how they overcome the crisis. The quantitative data were derived from 204 household surveys while the qualitative data were analyzed using the interview transcripts from semi-structured interviews with fisherman families. The study showed that although the pandemic has caused disruption in the health, the social and economic stability of the fisherman community in Sendang Biru, several resilience strategies were conducted by fishermen to help them endure the economic adversity during the pandemic.