Wednesday 25 November 2015

MINISTER SUSI ASKED MINISTER JONAN TO OPEN TRANSPORTATION ACCESS FOR FISHERIES



The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) asked the Ministry of Transportation (MoT) to open a special flight for the export of fishery products from the eastern region of Indonesia to Australia, the Philippines, and the Republic of Palau. This is done so that the shipment of fishery products to these countries will be faster given the huge fisheries potential in these regions. In addition, fishery products from remote regions in eastern Indonesia can have closer access.

Saut P. Hutagalung, Director General of Fisheries Processing and Marketing of MMAF, in Jakarta, on Tuesday (July 28), stated that during this time, export shipment of fishery products was done through major airports, such as Surabaya, Jakarta, Medan, or Makassar. In addition, some are using the sea which is phone to fraud, such as illegal transloading of fish in the sea (transshipment).

Saut added that the gates that should be opened include Morotai Island, Maluku, and Biak Island – Papua, for direct shipment to the Republic of Palau and the Philippines. Then, Merauke, Papua, and Kupang – East Nusa Tengara for direct shipment to Australia. “Minister Susi asked Minister of Transportation, Jonan, to facilitate transport by opening a special flight for the export of fishery products, especially in the Estern region,” Saut said.

Meanwhile, the Central Statistics Agency (BPS) reported that fishery exports in the first semester of 2015 fell compared to the same period last year. Fishery exports in the first half of 2015 amounted to 514,640 tons with a value of USD 2.02 billion. Volume of exports in the first half of 2015 was down 14.9% compared to the same period last year at USD 2.20 billion.

Director of Foreign Market Development of Directorate General of Fisheries Processing and Marketing of MMAF, Artati Widiarti, said that the moratorium on the business permit for ex foreign ship has lowered supply temporarily so that exports could go down. However, she believes that these policies will actually be beneficial to businesses for the long term, including in terms of supply and exports.

In addition, a decrease in supply also resulted from the ban on transshipment through Regulation of MMAF No. 57/2014. However, she said that this policy does not affect all fishermen. According to her, the supply from small vessels that do not depend on transporting or transshipment vessel is not affected. Precisely, the supply from these ships increase. In addition to the above two policies, Artati also said there was a decline in demand from importing countries of Indonesian fishery products, namely Japan, which led to the declining exports.

Nonetheless, the prospect of fisheries exports which predicted to fall this year due to the moratorium policy, transshipment and restrictions on crab fishing can be encouraged from shrimp farming, which is not affected by those three policies. Chairman of Indonesian Fisheries Product Processing and Marketing Association (AP5I), Thomas Darmawan, said the outlook for the shrimp market in the United States as the largest importer in the world is increasing after Thailand’s shrimp production not yet recovered due to Early Mortality Syndrome (EMS) diseases.

The latest data of MMAF recorded that products to the United States rose from 68,883 tons to 88,400 tons because many entrepreneurs shifted their market from Thailand to Indonesia. Some countries like Rusia are also expected to increase demand for shrimp products this year the ban on fish exports to the country were lifted last year. Temporary exports figures in December 2014 indicated that volume of shrimp exports reached 191,139 tons, an increase from the achievement in 2013 at 165,000 tons. (E)

Business News - July 31, 2015

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