AQUATIC, SEMARANG – The COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing and is not predicted to end for the next 7 years, even though vaccinations have started in Indonesia. Various sectors of the economy have been paralyzed, including the tourism sector. Jatibarang Reservoir is a reservoir located in Semarang City. This reservoir has become one of the icons of Semarang City which is managed jointly between the government and local residents. Residents around the Jatibarang Reservoir formed a tourism awareness group (Pokdarwis) Suko Makmur, where one of their livelihoods is selling boat tours. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past year, the income of Pokdarwis members has decreased. Therefore, the community service team of the Water Resources Management Study Program, chaired by Dr. Diah Ayuningrum, S.Pd., M.Si has carried out a service activity with the title “Socialization of Processed Fish-Based Creative Business as an Effort to Supplement the Income of Suko Makmur Pokdarwis, Jatibarang Reservoir, Semarang during the Covid-19 Pandemic”. The purpose of this service is to increase public knowledge about creative businesses made from processed fish raw materials. The hope is that the community will get new knowledge and recipes on how to process fish which can later be marketed. The service activity was carried out on April 9, 2021, which was previously preceded by survey activities on March 29, 2021.

This socialization activity was attended by 13 women members of Pokdarwis Suko Makmur, where in this activity a module was given with the title “Tips for Starting a Fish-Based Creative Business”. The module contains tips on how to start a creative business in the field of processed fish and also easy-to-make recipes for processed fish such as nuggets, naso, dragon legs, shredded fish and fish skin chips.

Photo: Socialization activity of the Department of Aquatic Resources service team to Pokdarwis Suko Makmur

In detail, the module contains an overview of processed fish, tips for starting a fish processing business, recipes for processed fish which include: tilapia fish nuggets, catfish meatballs, catfish nuggets, catfish dragon feet, catfish shredded and catfish skin chips. In the future, this service activity can also be developed with training in the manufacture of processed fish in the Jatibarang Reservoir to increase income in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The hope of the program is that the community can be inspired to create a fish processing business by utilizing existing resources in the Jatibarang Reservoir, so that it is hoped that the community’s economy during this pandemic will be more helpful. The target to be achieved for processed fish is that it can be used as a typical souvenir of the Jatibarang Reservoir. (Adm)