Prices of tuna drop by up to 50 percent
JAKARTA (JP): The price of tuna on the export market has dropped by about 50 percent in the last couple of months due to a decline in demand and fierce competition from China, an official says.
The Ministry of Agriculture's Director General of Fisheries, F.X. Murdjijo, during a meeting of Tuna Long Line Fishing entrepreneurs in Bali, however, assured businesspeople that the problem of declining tuna prices would be "gradually dealt with", the Antara news agency reported.
Murdjijo did not elaborate.
According to Antara, fresh tuna from Bali for export to countries such as Japan is currently priced at US$5.20 per kilogram.
The one-day meeting -- attended by businesspeople in the fisheries sector from Japan, South Korea, China and Indonesia -- discussed price issues and related government policies of each country.
The director of farm supervision and fisheries processing, Budi Susilo, acknowledged that the drop in tuna prices was strongly related to China's immense production this year, which occurred concurrently with the decline in Japan's domestic catch.
He said that since the meeting was also attended by Chinese representatives, it would enable representatives from each country to talk the situation over with Chinese producers.
"All the representatives from the fisheries associations will try to curb China's production so that it will not damage the market," Budi said.
According to the Federation of Indonesian Fishermen, Indonesia's annual production from sea fishing currently reaches only three million tons or a mere 23 percent of its sustainable (allowable) catch of 6.8 million tons a year.
The federation blamed the small yield mainly on the lack of fishing gear and fishing ships.
The Directorate General of Fisheries in a hearing with legislators earlier this year reported that fisheries production, both from freshwater and seawater, had increased by an average of 6.17 percent a year during the 1990 to 1994 period.
Last year, total fish production reached 4.02 million tons, of which 76 percent came from marine fishing.
The volume of exported fish increased by an average of 13.68 percent during the 1990 to 1994 period and amounted to 520,570 tons last year, while export earnings increased by an average of 12.62 percent to reach $1.65 billion last year.
Meanwhile, fishing vessels during that period increased by an average of 3.59 percent. In 1994, the total number of fishing vessels -- consisting of unmotorized boats, boats with outboard motors and motor-powered boats -- was 396,730.
Tuk Setyohadi, the chairman of the Federation of Indonesian Fishermen, was quoted by Antara as saying that Indonesia currently faces a severe shortage of fishing vessels.
This, he said, has prompted many local businesspeople to carry out joint fishing operations with foreign companies after gaining approval from Indonesian authorities.
He said, however, that although only 945 foreign fishing vessels are permitted to operate in Indonesia, up to 1,350 could be found roaming territorial waters.
Such practices, he added, caused big losses to the country.
All catches from the joint operations, he said, should be brought first to Indonesian fishing ports before being exported.
"Some foreign fishing ships simply ignore the rule and export their catch without bringing it first to Indonesian ports. This has resulted in a loss of up to $1 billion a year for Indonesia," Tuk said. (pwn)