Fishery exports may net $2.04b

Fishery exports may net $2.04b

JAKARTA (JP): Foreign exchange earnings from fishery exports
are expected to increase by 7.3 percent to US$2.04 billion this
year from $1.9 billion last year, a senior official at the
Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday.

Director General of Fisheries Untung Wahyono said the increase
was partly due to the rise in prices and demand for shrimp, tuna
and skipjack on the world market.

"But the value and volume of exports this year are below the
target," Untung said in a hearing with the House of
Representatives' Commission III for agriculture, forestry and
plantations, transmigration and food affairs.

The government earlier estimated that the value and volume of
fishery exports would increase to $2.13 billion and 800 metric
tons respectively.

Untung said the export volume of processed fish products was
estimated to drop by 44.7 percent to 13,649 tons from 24,696 tons
last year, with its value projected to decline by 26.7 percent to
$50.5 million from $68.9 million in the same period due to
increased production costs.

"The production cost has increased by over 300 percent due to
the increase in prices of imported packaging materials." He named
Japan, the United States and European countries as the main
export destinations.

Untung said the nation's export of fishery products was
expected to reach $10 billion in 2003.

The country had a potential fishery catch of 6.18 million tons
a year, he added, and there were plenty of opportunities for
Indonesian fishing companies to exploit the supply of fish and
fishery-related products.

But Indonesia is only able to tap 56 percent of its marine
resources due to a lack of sound fishing technology and modern
fishing equipment.

"The sector currently relies on traditional fishermen who use
conventional equipment. They don't travel out farther than 80
miles from the shore," he said.

"They are also being hit by the increase by between 200 and
300 percent in fishing equipment and boat spare parts."

Untung said the development of the fishery sector would be
focused over the next few years on exploiting resources in
Eastern Indonesian waters and outside of the country's 200-
nautical mile exclusive economic zone, which has an abundant
supply of fishing resources but few firms.

"Western Indonesia waters are already suffering a surfeit. The
area is small but there are too many players there," he said.
(gis)