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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