The Indonesian government plans to establish “aquaculture villages” to boost the sector in the country. TB Haeru Rahayu, director-general of aquaculture of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, said that they will focus on shrimp, lobster, crab and seaweed.

The locations are Pasaman Regency for carp, East OKU Regency for catfish, Pati Regency for saline tilapia, Gresik Regency for milkfish, East Lombok Regency for lobster, and Kupang Regency for grouper farming villages. Six of these have already been established and there will be another 130 sites to be built by 2022.

“The aquaculture village program is expected to create employment opportunities for the community, through the formation of corporations, as well as new entrepreneurs, increasing state revenues and improving the welfare of fish farmers. We hope that the program is able to provide great benefits for the community, especially farmers,” said Haeru Rahayu.

Indonesian aquaculture production increased in 2021 with 12.25 million tons produced in the third quarter of 2021, compared to the 11.53 million tons produced in the same period in 2020. This positive performance was supported by a program to increase seed management in 2021, including the provision of 172 million quality seeds, 170,6000 superior broodstock and 172 million seaweed seeds, among others. 

“With what has been done in 2021 and what will be done in 2022, we hope that aquaculture will have an impact on the economic growth and improve the welfare of the farming community in particular while preserving nature, ecological balance and biodiversity,” said Haeru Rahayu.