"The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Susi Pudjiastuti, has provided directives that the price of fish meal should be brought down by 60 percent from the present price," the Director General of Cultured Fisheries of the KKP, Slamet Soebjakto said in a written statement in Jakarta on Thursday.
Slamet said the cost for the procurement of fish meal by fish farmers so far has been too high, rising by about 70 to 80 percent of the total fish cultivation cost. Therefore, Slamet said, his office is encouraging the use of local raw materials as substitution for imported raw material. Each of the fish cultivation region has its own local raw materials that can be used as fish feed, such as oil palm cake, hyacinth and coconut pulp.
"We will also encourage the Self-Reliant Fish Meal Group (Pokanri), which is a separate group from fish farmers to produce national quality standard fish feed in large volumes, which are able to continuously meet local needs," the director general said.
The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) said it has agreed with a government effort to activate the institution like the state-owned logistics board (Bulog), namely an agency called Bulog for fishery, which is expected to solve fish farmers problems and improve their welfare.
"The solution for improving the welfare of fish is a fishery Bulog. It can be managed by the existing Bulog or by a fishery that is a state-owned enterprise (fishery BUMN)," Kadin General Chairman for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, Yugi Prayanto, said on Thursday, May 19.
Yogi said with a fishery Bulog, the production of traditional fish farmers in various regions could be absorbed.(WDY)
