Shrimp Club Indonesia (SCI) held a meeting with the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) in Jakarta on Thursday (18/1). During the meeting, SCI representatives shared recommendations with Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono regarding strategies to address recent challenges in the shrimp industry.
SCI emphasized two key issues during the meeting: a decline in shrimp production in 2023 and an ongoing trend of decreasing prices. According to SCI’s report, shrimp production reached 365,000 tons in 2022 but saw a 9.5% decrease to 350,000 tons in 2023. This drop in production was accompanied by an 11.5% decrease in shrimp feed production, from 390,000 tons to 345,000 tons between 2022 and 2023.
SCI identified various factors contributing to the decline in shrimp prices. These factors include global economic conditions, reliance on the United States (US) market, decreased demand from the US, heightened production in other countries, and recent anti-subsidy (CVD) and anti-dumping (AD) petitions from the US. Consequently, some cold storage facilities scaled back their shrimp purchases, creating an imbalance in the shrimp supply and demand.
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The decrease in shrimp prices had a dual impact on the production sector. This impact manifested as delayed shrimp stocking, reduced shrimp density in ponds, postponed expansions of ponds, deferred investments from investors, closures of ponds in specific areas, and ultimately, a reduction in overall shrimp production.
Recommendations and meeting outcomes
Due to these challenges, SCI provided the following recommendations to KKP:
- Opening new foreign and domestic market access.
- Ease and clarity in investment.
- Simplification of licensing processes.
- Clarity in Spatial Planning.
- Infrastructure development.
- Provision of quality human resources through Shrimp School.
- Certification.
In the meeting report, SCI noted that to address the shrimp price issue, the Minister of KP would promote product quality improvement and explore opportunities in the international market, especially in China and South Korea. The Ministry also plans to organize the Indonesia Seafood Expo this year to connect local producers with foreign buyers.
Additionally, to tackle the CVD and AD petition issues, the government has appointed Mayer Brown Firm as legal representation based on the association’s recommendation. KKP is committed to diplomatic efforts and exploring other solutions to resolve this issue.
Regarding licensing, SCI requested the relaxation or moratorium of burdensome permits for shrimp farmers. In response, the Director-General of Aquaculture, Tb Haeru Rahayu, is considering centralizing pond permits to a central authority.
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This article has been translated from the original Indonesian title “SCI sampaikan rekomendasi kepada Menteri KP untuk penguatan industri perudangan”
