Shrimp farmers suffer from U.S. ban

TANGERANG: Many of the 600 shrimp farmers in Kronjo, Lontar, Muara and Teluk Naga districts in Tangerang regency have been forced to close down their businesses following the United States' ban on Indonesian shrimp imports.

The regency's fishery agency chief, Deden Sugandi, said on Wednesday that the four districts had previously managed to export an average of 30 tons of shrimp annually to the U.S., the largest export market.

He said research in the U.S. found that shrimp imported from Indonesia contained dangerously high levels of chemicals.

Shrimp was sold to the U.S. market at Rp 200,000 (US$23) per kilogram. With the U.S. ban, local farmers have suffered financially, only managing to sell shrimp at Rp 75,000 per kilogram in the domestic market.

Deden called on farmers to stop adding chemicals to shrimp feed if they wanted to export their shrimps. -- JP