Shoreline remains untapped resource

BOGOR, West Java: The director of the center for coastal and sea resources, Rokhmin Dahuri, said Indonesia's shoreline potential remained an untapped resource which could greatly help the country in this time of crisis.

"Ventures in this field are labor intensive, produce sustenance, require minimal imported capital and are theoretically and environmentally sustainable," he said during the opening of the first national conference on coastal sea resources here yesterday.

He said Indonesia's 81,000 kilometers of coastline was underutilized.

He said other countries with far more limited resources were more productive. He pointed out that Thailand, with a coastline of just 2,600 kilometers, received about as much as Indonesia in dollar value.

Rokhmin added that countries like France and Norway, even with limited coastlines, earned over US$2 billion from oyster and salmon exports. (24)