Tuna price slump deals a blow to Indonesian fishermen

Amid ongoing pressure on the tuna price in the Japan market following the nuclear crisis in Fukushima perfecture, many Indonesian fishermen have begun catching other fish for survival.

The Indonesian Association of Fish Cargo Operators (APKPII) chairman Ang Sakiman said the price of tuna dropped to 400 yen per kilogram from its normal price of between 900 and 1,000 yen per kilogram as most Japanese people were not consuming tuna in the fear that it had been exposed to radiation.

Ang said the demand of tuna had decreased significantly. “Japanese people are reluctant to eat tuna nowadays,” he said as quoted by kontan.co.id on Sunday.

Ang said that a lower tuna price had forced more than 800 fishermen in Muara Baru in North Jakarta to stopped catching tuna.

Fishermen, he said, need between five and seven months to catch tuna, using more than 100 tons of diesel fuel.

“Many fishermen are catching other fish instead of tuna where they would suffer sure losses,” he said, adding that catching other fish used only 30 tons of diesel fuel.