Indramayu fish catch improves but price down<\/p>\n
Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu<\/p>\n
Attention seafood lovers: Increased catches along West Java's
\nnorthern coast have made fish prices in Indramayu some of the
\ncheapest in the country, but the oversupply is making life tough
\nfor fishing families.<\/p>\n
\"The increased catches will certainly influence fish prices.
\nThe price of fish has already dropped sharply,\" said Kasiba, 52,
\nthe head of the Mina Sumitra Village Cooperative Unit (KUD) in
\nKarang Song, Indramayu.<\/p>\n
The Mina Ulaban, Singaraja, KUD manager, Sukarya, 46, said
\nseafood prices had begun to drop at the end of March. \"The price
\nof fish was quite good previously. But it tends to drop starting
\n(this time of year),\" he said.<\/p>\n
The price of the main catches like tuna has more than halved,
\nwith the fish only fetching Rp 4,000 (44 U.S. cents) a kilogram,
\nfrom Rp 9,000 per kg earlier this year. A smaller fish, kembung
\nhas dropped in price, from Rp 6,000 to Rp 6,500 a kg previously,
\nto a year-low of Rp 3,000 to Rp 4,000, with teri nasi, similarly
\nreduced from between Rp 15,000 and Rp 16,000 a kg to only about
\nRp 7,000 to Rp 8,000.<\/p>\n
\"The (seasonal) drop in fish prices has definitely affected
\nfishermen's incomes, after having earlier suffered fuel price
\nhikes earlier,\" Sukarya said.<\/p>\n
Recent Indramayu Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Office data
\nshows that taking into affect the increases in the past month the
\ncatches by Indramayu fishermen for the 2004-2005 period has
\nalready increased by 17 percent this year to 27,000 tons from
\n23,000 in the same period in 2003-2004.<\/p>\n
The increase is primarily caused by better conditions; the
\nprevailing seasonal westerly winds that cause high tides, less
\nfish and choppier seas have now abated. \"It's now the easterly
\nseason when sea conditions are more friendly. Fishermen have set
\nout to sea like in normal times,\" Kasiba said.<\/p>\n
Kasiba says an average of 10 to 15 large fishing boats
\nweighing from 20 to 28 gross tons dock daily at the Karang Song
\nFish Trading Center (PPI), the biggest market in Indramayu.<\/p>\n
\"The number has increased compared earlier to only three to
\nfour boats per day. There are also some 100 smaller fishing
\nvessels docking in Karang Song now,\" said Kasiba.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, fisheries office head Abdul Rosad Hakim, said that
\nin spite of the increase in catches, the figure was still far
\nfrom the regency's potential figure of 61,000 tons a year.<\/p>\n
According to Abdul, with a coast spanning 114 kilometers, the
\nlongest in West Java and 30,000 fishing families, the area had
\nthe potential of becoming one of the biggest fishing centers in
\nthe country, especially now that there were more distribution
\nmarkets than before -- the PPIs in Indramayu city; the Karang
\nSong PPI in Indramayu district, the Dadap PPI in Juntinyuat and
\nthe Eretan PPI.<\/p>\n
Most of the area's fishing families 15,000, are concentrated
\nin Dadap, followed by Karangsong with 10,000 and Eretan with
\n5,000.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indramayu-fish-catch-improves-but-price-down-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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