Shrimp farmers suffer from U.S. ban

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