Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The University of Lambung Mangkurat (ULM) is making a 611 hectares of mangrove area it managed in Kotabaru District, South Kalimantan, as a center for coastal community development.
"We design a milkfish rearing and soft shell crab production program which are expected to support the local economy," said the Dean of ULM's Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science (FPIK) Untung Bijaksana in Banjarbaru, Thursday.
Fisheries, he acknowledged, is one of the main sources of economy for communities around the mangrove area. Thus, the faculty continues to encourage inter-sectoral collaboration in managing the natural resources to strengthen this sector.
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The ULM's faculty, he pointed out, is committed to advance fisheries sector with various academic breakthroughs. One of them is opening five study programs outside the main campus in Kotabaru to bring education services closer to the coastal communities.
Then, the faculty sent 250 students to take part in the thematic Community Service Program (KKN) on the coastal area to develop villages and provide positive impact on the community.
Untung admitted that he wanted to make ULM's Fisheries and Marine Faculty a center of excellence in the fields of aquaculture, fisheries product technology, and marine socio-economics.
"South Kalimantan is known as the king of eating fish, so the fisheries sector must continue to be developed,” he said.
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