Jakarta, Dec 8 (Antara) - The government is encouraging production of fish meals using local raw materials to reduce fish meal imports and cut fish cultivation expenses as meals so far account for about 80 percent of the total costs.
"We must seek ways of utilizing our rich local raw materials to produce fish meals on our own that would benefit both fish meal industry and cultured fish farmers," Director General for Cultured Fish of the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) Slamet Soebjakto, said on Tuesday.
For this purpose, the KKP will strengthen the network and coordination among fish farmers and local fish meal producers, particularly small- and medium-sized enterprises (UKM).
By producing fish meals from local raw materials both UKM or individuals and fish breeders will enjoy benefit as the production cost could significantly be cut.
As regards, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti expressed the desire that the cost of fish cultivation should be reduced to 60 percent. Slamet said fish meal production facility should be accorded priority because meals account for the biggest cost component in the fish culture sector.
"Meals account for the biggest chunk of the cost in fish farming, often reaching some 70 to 80 percent (of the total cost)," Slamet Soebjakto explained.
But with the use of local raw materials to produce meals for fish at home, the cost burden borne by breeders could be alleviated.
Therefore, the director general hoped that production of fish meals in the regions would receive support and assistance from local governments. Thereby, there would be no need to import raw materials.
He said Indonesia has exceptionally rich natural wealth and fish experts recognized the country as one that is abundant in fish meal raw materials.
By utilizing local raw materials, not only will the producers benefit but the fish breeders in various regions would also become independent. "The trend now is that fish meal production will no longer depend on fish powder in the future," he added.
The Director General said the raw materials in various regions had varying potential, and this aspect should be studied further.
As part of the efforts to make this program a success, the KKP also launched a self-reliant fish meal production movement.
He said that the self-reliant fish meal production movement is aimed to develop UKM doing fish meal business and is not intended to cause a competition to their large-scale counterparts.
The movement has been launched in an effort to build cooperation between the UKM and associations of fish meal producers, which will be useful for the development of the domestic fish meal industry.
"We want to develop fish breeders and our friends who do business in the fish meal sector, so that both sectors could be managed well," noted the director general.
According to Slamet, Bank BRI and Indramayu's fish breeders also signed a credit extension agreement during a National Reliant Fish Meal Week held at the KKP office in Jakarta on Tuesday.
"We hope it will build communication that could motivate self-reliant producers and reinforce their networks to achieve self-reliance in fish meal production," Director General for Cultured Fish of the KKP Slamet Soebjakto
In the meantime, the Financial Service Authority (OJK) stated that banks have changed their outlook and are now harboring a positive perception of the marine and fishery sector compared to the past.
"The marine and fishery sector has been very attractive to banks," Bank Supervision Affairs Director of the OJK Slamet Edi Purnomo noted at a press conference on Nov. 18.
This is apparent from the level of non-performing loans (NPL) of the marine and fishery sector recorded at 2.1 percent, which is lower than the NPL of the industrial sector that reached 2.7 percent.
Moreover, the growth rate of the marine and fishery sector was also recorded at 12.5 percent annually, or over the annual industrial growth at 10 percent.
"We hope this will make all financial service industries aware of the positive trend in the marine and fishery sector, so that they will all support us. We have to be optimistic regarding the developments in the marine and fishery sector ahead," the director general affirmed.
Besides, Coco Kokarkin Soetrisno, the director for fish meal affairs of the KKP, said his office had provided assistance to hundreds of fish breeder groups in the country.
The assistance included materials, equipment, supervision, social activities, and training and guidance on how to produce high-quality fish meal.
Director General Slamet Soebjakto had earlier encouraged the owners of fish production facilities to obtain certifications based on the Indonesian National Standardization (SNI) in preparation for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).
"The standardization is important in the face of the AEC, so that our products can compete with foreign products circulating in the market. So, we need to ensure that our products meet the SNI standards," Slamet stated at an event on the design of cultured fish facilities in Bobor, West Java, on Thursday (Dec. 3).
In this case, the KKP will seek free registration for fish meal production to obtain national standardization.
"Later on, the registration will be free of charge," Slamet Soebjakto stated.
Slamet affirmed that the KKP wanted the registration to be made free of charge as the domestic fish meal production should be integrated based on national standards.
He pointed out that cultured fish equipment should also be registered. The producers of fish seed should have certificates from laboratories to ensure young fish health and security. The equipment must be standardized and should not contaminate the environment.
The continuation of the cultured fish business must also be guaranteed with the availability of production facilities. Thus, the availability of adequate means and facilities is a must to guarantee the continued and optimal production of fish.***1***
(A014/S012)(T.A014/A/BESSR/Suharto) 08-12-2015 23:39:2 |
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