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Indonesian, Norwegian firms team up for fish farming
Big business: A fish farmer paddles a boat near freshwater fish cages in Bawen, Semarang, Central Java, on July 2
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ig business: A fish farmer paddles a boat near freshwater fish cages in Bawen, Semarang, Central Java, on July 2. According to Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry data, fish production grew at a compound annual rate of 4.4 percent over the past five years to 24.32 million tons last year.(Antara/Aji Styawan)
PT El Rose Brothers and Norwegian company Sterner AS have joined hands to develop an onshore fish farming business in Yogyakarta using the recirculating aquaculture system (RAS).
According to the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s aquaculture director general, Slamet Soebjakto, the two companies have signed an official partnership agreement and plan to start construction in 2020 with an initial production capacity of 2,500 tons of fish per year.
“The project is expected to bring in investments worth US$50 million," he said in Jakarta on Monday.
El Rose Brothers and its partner will also build a hatchery, which will support the RAS facility and improve the quality of Indonesian fishery products in general.
The business partnership agreement was signed by Ferry Budiman as the director of El Rose Brothers and Sterner AS director Gisle Larsen in the Indonesia Convention Exhibitions (ICE) Nusantara Convention Hall in BSD City, Tangerang, Banten, on Oct. 16.
Larsen said he was pleased to be working with El Rose Brothers to start a new chapter in the production of onshore fishery products in Indonesia.
RAS is an enclosed fish farming method with tank oxidation and water recycling technology. According to Larsen, the method is better than open-ocean aquaculture because the latter expose marine species to diseases and chemicals that could be harmful to their populations and to consumers.
Slamet said that with the use of RAS, Indonesia’s fish could easily fulfill export standards, such as biosecurity and traceability, implemented in developed countries.
“Once established, we would like to export saltwater fish such as Asian sea bass and grouper to the United States, Europe and Japan,” he said.
According to ministry data, fisheries production grew at a compound annual rate of 4.4 percent over the past five years to 24.32 million tons last year.
The fisheries export volume increased by 4.45 percent to 1.13 million tons, whereas export value increased by 7.44 percent to $4.86 million last year.
Slamet hopes that future investments can focus on establishing fish farming in the eastern part of Indonesia, such as in Merauke and Mimika in Papua, Morotai Island in Maluku and Rote Ndao in East Nusa Tenggara as these areas are relatively unpolluted and have a lot of untapped potential.
However, he realized that there are challenges in developing high-tech fish farms in rural areas, including the need for a transfer of knowledge and changing the regions’ coastal and islands zoning plans.
Slamet added that Indonesia had also received a 4 million kroner ($437,228) grant from Norway for aquatic animal genetics and disease research, as well as establishing standard operating procedures for marine culture.
Meanwhile, Norway Ambassador to Indonesia Vegard Kaale said the archipelago could export seafood products to Norway with zero tariffs as Indonesia had already signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with four European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, which includes Norway.
The CEPA would make EFTA states abolish all customs duties on imports of industrial products, including fish and other marine products from Indonesia. In turn, Indonesia will gradually eliminate or reduce customs duties as well.
