Government launches task force to prevent lobster seed smuggling
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The government has formally launched the Task Force for the Eradication of the Illegal Export of Lobster Seeds (Satgas P2BBL) to strengthen efforts to tackle lobster-seed smuggling and protect the country’s marine economic potential.
Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman inaugurated the task force at the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) in Jakarta on Monday. The move is intended to strengthen coordination among ministries and agencies to prevent the illegal export of lobster seeds.
“The task force is not taking over the authority of ministries and agencies; its purpose is to bring together the authority, information, resources and operational capabilities that we have,” Dudung said at the launch.
He explained that the establishment of Satgas P2BBL is based on Presidential Regulation No. 69 of 2026. The Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs serves as its Steering Chair, while the Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries is the Executive Chair.
Deputy Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries Didit Herdiawan Ashaf serves as the task force’s day-to-day Executive Chair.
Dudung said the task force is responsible for coordinating data and information gathering, prevention and enforcement, as well as setting law-enforcement targets, to align the efforts of the ministries and agencies involved in combating lobster-seed smuggling.
“The task force is responsible for coordinating data and information gathering, prevention and enforcement, as well as setting law-enforcement targets,” he said.
Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono said the task force was needed because lobster-seed smuggling is an organised illegal activity requiring cooperation among ministries, agencies and law-enforcement authorities.
“Satgas P2BBL is a state instrument to strengthen coordination, enforcement and law enforcement,” Trenggono said.
He said the task force’s organisational arrangements, working procedures and operational guidelines had been prepared, allowing it to begin its work immediately after the launch.
The government estimates that Indonesia has the potential to produce 465.8 million lobster seeds a year. This potential, officials say, needs to be managed sustainably to increase added value and support the development of the country’s lobster-farming industry.
“This potential needs to be managed in a measured way to support aquaculture development, increase added value and bring economic benefits to the public,” he said.
Earlier, the Water and Air Police Directorate of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police thwarted an attempt to smuggle around 150,000 lobster seeds on the Jagorawi Toll Road on 3 September 2026.
On the aquaculture front, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries reported that 339.5 kilogrammes of lobsters from a pilot farming project in Batam, Riau Islands, had been marketed in Singapore, as announced on 10 September 2026.
Dudung stressed that the campaign against smuggling must go hand in hand with improvements to domestic lobster-seed governance, including ensuring that legitimate economic activities by fishers and coastal communities can continue.
“Therefore, law enforcement must be carried out proportionately, while leaving room for legitimate economic activities that comply with the laws and regulations,” he said.
Dudung added that the task force’s work would be evaluated each month to monitor progress against its targets, with the results reported to the President.