IO, Jakarta – President Joko Widodo issued two important directives to the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, for his sector in the next five years: to maintain good communication with marine and fishery stakeholders, and to strengthen aquaculture (fish cultivation). Therefore, Edhy made decisive moves, among others by holding a meeting to determine 2020-2024 Fishery Cultivation Road Map Development. In the meeting held with the Directorate General of Fishery Cultivation, he explained to his staff: “The President really relies on fishery cultivation to resolve (food) issues. We cannot deal with existing problems in the usual way; we need to think out of the box,” he stated in a written statement on Monday (23/03/2020).
The direction of fishery cultivation development has been diverted from its earlier orientation towards production increases to the development of sustainable and competitive cultivation. This change of paradigm will still consider all environmental, economic, and social potentials and support powers in the region where fishery cultivation is a meaningful part of the economy.
Director General of Fishery Cultivation Slamet Soebjakto stated that fishery cultivation development strategies for 2020-2024 are fourfold: Increased production, welfare improvement, sustainable regional management and cross-sector integration. Fishery cultivation will be focused on the following superior commodities: Shrimp, seaweed, lobster, patin fish (Pangasius), decorative fish, eels, and the cultivation of larvae for fish feed. “Among others, the lobster production target is increased from IDR 330 billion in 2020 to IDR 1.73 trillion in 2024, or a production volume increase from 1,377 tons in 2020 to 7,220 tons in 2024,” he said.
Slamet further stated that his staff will focus on cultivating decorative fish for urban communities. Decorative fish cultivation business management will be implemented in clusters, with the economic scale of 1 cluster containing at least 10 groups of 6 packages each. “Our vision for fishery cultivation in the future includes increasing exports, securing food and providing job opportunities,” he said. (des)