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ishermen in the country no longer need to be confused about where to sell their fish for good prices as they can now monitor which fish auction centers offer the best prices for their fish.

With smart-TV sets in 11 fish auction centers across the country, fishermen can get information related to weather forecasts as well as fish price fluctuations in real time.

Yan Winatasasmita, chairman of the Indonesian Fishermen'€™s Association (HNSI) North Jakarta chapter, said the technology was something that most fishermen had been waiting for.

'€œFishermen have so far lived in a shell. They don'€™t know what fishing regulations are and they don'€™t know fish prices outside their areas,'€ he said.

Yan said many fishermen usually sold their catches to auction centers without knowing how much they would be priced.

'€œWith the television sets, fishermen can choose which auction centers will buy their fish at good prices. They can then calculate whether they'€™ll earn bigger profits to transport their fish to the chosen auction centers,'€ he said, adding that Jakarta'€™s fish auction centers usually bought catches at prices 20 percent higher than those in other areas.

Other than Internet-connected TV sets, the 11 fish auction centers are also equipped with WiFi connections, CCTV and signal enhancers provided by state telecommunications firm PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom).

The fish auction centers are those of Muara Angke (Jakarta), Muara Baru (Jakarta), Gabeon (Medan, North Sumatra), Bungus (Padang, West Sumatra), Pangandaran (West Java), Pekalongan (Central Java), Cilacap (Central Java), Tegal (Central Java), Brondong (East Java), Tanjung Luar (Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara) and Paotere Sabutung (Makassar, South Sulawesi).

Telkom enterprise and business service director Muhammad Awaluddin said after the launch of the digitalized fish auction centers '€” dubbed digital fisherman villages '€” on Wednesday that his firm aimed to add 22 more IT-based auction centers in the near future.

'€œWe will add 22 more in the near future. We will also increase them to 100 by the first half of next year,'€ he said, adding that Telkom was responding to the government'€™s aim to build stronger maritime power through the empowerment of 1,000 fishing villages.

Awaluddin said his firm had invested around Rp 10 billion (US$789,652) to build infrastructure, including a fiber optic network, for the 11 digital fisherman villages.

'€œWe will first emphasize how to introduce the technology to the fishermen. In the long run, when they know it well, we can start introducing content products for trading,'€ he said.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry director of fishing port Bambang Sutejo said the digital villages would eventually help Indonesia'€™s fishermen earn more because fishermen could sell their fish at better prices.