The fishing sector in Indonesia has massive potential for expensive marine animal commodities with a total water area of 6.4 million square kilometers (km2).
However, there are still a number of complex problems that need to be addressed, which may present new business opportunities.
The potential of Indonesia’s fish resources reaches 12.01 million tons per year in 11 fisheries management areas (WPP), with as much as 8.64 million tons per year of permissible fish catch.
Indonesia is one of the countries with the sixth largest marine Exclusive Economic Zone in the world. Such condition presents great potential for fish resources.
Several potential marine commodities in Indonesia include small pelagic fish, large pelagic fish, demersal fish, reef fish, penaeid shrimp, lobsters, crabs, and squid.
On the other hand, there are Indonesian marine fish with high selling value, such as eels, napoleon fish, groupers, tuna, lobsters, and sea cucumbers.
One of the largest fishery areas, WPP 718, has a potential of 2.64 million tons of marine produce per year with a total permissible catch of 2.11 million tonnes per year.
Three largest fishing ports
Currently, Indonesia has 3 (three) of the largest fishing ports, namely Lamongan Harbor, Banyuwangi Port, and the coastal region of Cilacap.
Lamongan Harbor in East Java has a total coastline of 47 km. This port houses 3,423 vessels, 52,269 fishing gear, as well as five fish landing bases and a fish auction. In 2020, Lamongan Harbor produces 76.7 million tons of fishes with a production value of IDR 1.2 trillion.
The second largest fishing port is the Port of Banyuwangi in East Java, which provides large contribution to local revenue. This area stretches from the Bali Strait and the Indonesian Ocean covering a total area of 960 square miles.
Third, the Cilacap Regency in Central Java is an area directly adjacent to the Indian Ocean. The fishery potential in this area is 72 thousand tons per year. However, currently, only 15 thousand tons or 20.78% of the total potential can be harvested by fishermen.
Government make efforts to improve the fisheries sector
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries will establish a blue economy-based marine development policy, which will cover water conservation, and the application of a quota-based catch policy in each region.
“Through programs based on the blue economy, we seek economic growth while still paying attention to ecological sustainability,” said Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries.
At the same time, the government is trying to promote marine and fishery products on an international scale, rehabilitate coastal areas and small islands, and increase the development of aquaculture for the export of shrimp, lobster, crab and seaweed.
Problems faced by the government
Despite the government’s efforts, there are several problems faced by the fishing industry in Indonesia, including the fishermen in many sectors. These problems and the lack of necessary solutions could be an opportunity for investors.
Nimmi Zulbainarni, Advisor to the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries for the Social Economic Affairs of Fisheries, said that there are a number of problems related to the current fisheries sector, including overfishing.
In addition, fishermen have no access to adequate fishing boats, sonar or radar technology. To make matters worse, they must also deal with high diesel costs, and no life insurance.
Financially, the government has yet to find a solution to address the problems faced by Indonesian fishermen’s livelihoods. Also, a lack of cold storage facilities to store fish resulted in a decrease of quality in catch.
Fishermen also do not have access to equipment that can give them information on weather information, wave patterns, wind direction and location of fishes.
And finally, fishermen the knowledge on marketing and market prices, lack of electronic marketing and development, lack of information on what fish are in high demand, and high number of middlemen who buy fish from fishermen with low prices and sell it to distributors with high prices.
