Jakarta, June 19 (Antara) - Fish stocks are adequate to meet domestic
needs in the face of the upcoming Muslim fasting month and the
post-fasting Idul Fitri or Lebaran festivities.
It is estimated
that there will be an increase in the demand and consumption of fish by
20 percent in the run up to the fasting month of Ramadhan, 15 percent
during fasting, and 30 percent during Lebaran.
With the increase, total volume of fish required in June, July, and
August reaches 2.6 million tons. This is still below the current stock
of 3.2 million tons.
"We have estimated that the domestic need for fish will increase by 20
percent in June, 15 percent in July (fasting month), and 30 percent
during the Lebaran festivities. This will need a total stock of 2.6
million tons. But, our current stock is 3.2 million tons. So, stocks are
sufficient for the fasting month," Director General for Fish Processing
and Marketing of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Saut
Hutagalung stated on Wednesday.
The increase in the demand for fish will not be as drastic as the
demand for meat and eggs during the Ramadan fasting month and the
Lebaran festivities. The director general has forecast that under normal
conditions, the national monthly fish requirement is about 700 thousand
tons.
So, fish stocks are expected to meet the need for the commodity during
the three months of June, July, and August, 2014.
The director general pointed out that data available at the Nizam
Zachman Ocean-going Fishery Port (PPS) revealed that the cold storage
capacity of 53 fish processing units reached 77,250 tons.
The fish stock data of 21 cold storage firms at the Muara Baru PPI
(fishery ports) on January 17, 2014, stood at 3.2 million tons.
As stocks are sufficient, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries
claimed that Indonesia did not need to import fish in the face of the
fasting month, which is expected to begin on June 28, next weekend.
"We have ample fish stock, so there is no need to import fish," Saut Hutagalung noted.
Hutagalung
said his ministry has assured that stocks were also adequate for the
post-fasting festivities of Lebaran as generally, the supplies of milk
fish from Makassar, South Sulawesi Province, were abundant.
Stocks will also arrive from various other provinces, so the demand for various kinds of fish can also be met.
The ministry also stressed that fish supplies should always be under
control, so that it will not be interrupted. It is not necessary that
the supplies are met solely with sea fish or catch fish, but it can also
be met with freshwater fish cultured in fish ponds.
"We should maintain the supplies of fish needed for consumption. The
national requirement of fish reaches 700 thousand tons per month. The
volume of fish required differs from region to region, such as Jakarta,
which needs 155 tons per day," Saut Hutagalung pointed out.
In Jakarta, for instance, sea fish supplies came from several regions
and were kept in cold storage. "This means that in terms of supplies,
Jakarta has a secure fish stock," the director general noted.
Jakarta also receives freshwater fish in large volumes from West and
Central Java. The fish supplies from these areas are also distributed to
Jakarta's satellite towns of Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, and Bekasi.
Jakarta alone receives about 40 to 45 tons of "lele" or cat fish per
day.
Freshwater
fish supplies also come from several dams in West Java, such as the
Jatiluhur, Saguling, and Cirata reservoirs. The volume of freshwater
fish from these dams is about 320 tons per day.
In the meantime, the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association
(KNTI) urged the government to increase the quality and quantity of fish
products in the fish processing sector in an effort to increase the
competitiveness of traditional fishermen.
"In 2008, the processing sector contributed 40 percent to the total
national production. Now, it only contributes some 20 to 30 percent,"
Chief Patron of KNTI M Riza Damanik stated on Thursday.
The lack of focus on the processing sector has caused the performance
of Indonesian fisheries to lag behind other ASEAN members, such as
Thailand and Vietnam.
For this purpose, Indonesia needs to reinforce its fish processing
sector by increasing its processed fish production and the number of
workers employed in the fish processing businesses.
Riza Damanik pointed out that the number of workers in the fish
processing sector was only about 10 percent of the fishery sector, while
54 percent and 36 percent others were respectively in the production
and other sectors.
In the face of the ASEAN Economic Community, Riza Damanik expressed the
need for Indonesia to build some 10 thousand village-based fish
processing units.
Riza stated that of the 13.8 million people working in the fishery
sector, only about 10 percent worked in fish processing units. This fact
indicated stagnation in fishery development across downstream areas.
So, he reiterated that in the future, the government will need at least
10 thousand fish processing units based in villages.
Riza, who is also the executive director of Indonesia for Global
Justice, claimed that the value of Indonesia's fish exports cannot yet
exceed that of Thailand and Vietnam. This data is based on the ASEAN
Statistical Year Book 2012.
He added that Indonesia can even become dependent on fish imported from other neighboring countries.
Regional Chief of KNTI for Tanjung Balai Karimun, Panjaitan meanwhile
pointed out that the absence of downstream development of fish
processing units was not the only issue that had to be solved in the
face of AEC but also other domestic fishery problems.
"In the Asahan waters of North Sumatra, at least 80 trawlers are still
operating freely. We are optimistic that if the trawlers' operations are
halted, traditional fishermen can increase their production," he
stressed.
Secretary General of the People's Coalition for Fishery Justice (Kiara)
Abdul Halim also voiced the same concern regarding the need for
Indonesia to focus on fish processing. He added that Indonesia is the
biggest tuna producing country, but it still focuses on exporting its
tuna product.
"What
is the consequence of the export? After exporting raw tuna, Indonesia
imports it again in the form of canned fish products," Halim noted.
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(T.A014/INE/H-YH)
EDITED BY INE |
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