The export of grouper from the re-cultivation was carried out by fish farmers in the Natuna Islands, Monday (10/9). At least 16,720 kg of live groupers were exported to Hong Kong, with export value reaching USD 100,314 or IDR 1.45 billion. Exports are carried out via the sea lane using two Hong Kong-flagged ships which are Mv. Cheung Kam Wah and Cheng Wai Hing.

Eko Prihananto, one of the grouper fish farmers in Natuna (PT Putri Ayu Jaya), confirmed that the shipment was carried out on Monday (10/9) and was attended by various related parties, quarantine officers from the port of Sedanau, Syahbandar Sedanau, Customs and Excise, BKIPM, Immigration , PSDKP, and the Navy. He also stated that in general the grouper export activity to Hong Kong was still stable throughout 2018.

Eko considered the prices of the grouper fish are still normal. The current prices for various types of grouper, each hybrid grouper Rp85,000 per kg, humpback grouper Rp.800,000 per kg, and sunu grouper Rp.350,000 per kg.

"Once shipment usually reaches a nominal of 16 tons. Actually the export from Natuna is normal. "Our records, we have been exporting it for the past 11 years, meaning that at least once a month this export activity exists," said Eko.

He explained, Natuna's position which was close to the export destination country was very strategic, so that he considered the grouper business was still a promising choice for the Natuna people.

"Exports to Hong Kong from Natuna can only take 6 days. Compare this with other regions such as Bali which takes up to 10 days, and for a round trip took about 20 days, "he added.

About the impact of the enactment of Ministerial Regulation No. 32 of 2016, Eko assessed that it’s influenced a little part in the process, but will not affect the overall export performance in the Natuna Islands.

"Permen KP is not too influential on the cultivation and the activities could continue as usual. The indicator is the number of fishermen are relatively stable. Currently there are at least 2,500 people involved in grouper business in Natuna that are spread in 15 Districts around Natuna islands. "

The Director General of Aquaculture, Slamet Soebjakto in his statement in Jakarta confirmed that grouper exports, especially in the Riau Islands, were still going as usual. According to him, Riau Islands is a national grouper cultivation center and is geographically close to market access in Hong Kong / China.

"Throughout this year, based on our monitoring, export activities, especially in the Natuna Islands, are still stable. "The recent export has been carried out in Natuna, indicating that export intensity is running normally," said Slamet

For other regions such as East Indonesia, there is indeed a decrease in export intensity, this is because access is far from the loading port. On the other hand, many cultivation businesses are not centralized in one area, so harvest quotas are considered not to cover transport capacity.

However, on the other hand, according to Slamet the Government must also be consistent to comply with the provisions of Law No. 17 of 2007 concerning Shipping. Where there is a stipulation that foreign-flagged vessels are not allowed to enter NKRI waters and stop between islands. According to Slamet, the solution is that there needs to be an Indonesian feeder from onfarm to the loading port.

"When it comes to the problem of the number of live fishing vessels resulting from actual cultivation that operate quite a lot. If before the enactment of the Candy, there were only 20 pieces, just after the Candy rose to 28. But speaking of frequency, we are bound by the Shipping Law which does not allow foreign fishing vessels to operate freely in Indonesian waters, let alone stop between small islands. The enactment of Permen 32 does have an influence, but we also have to be consistent with the provisions of the law, especially regarding the sovereignty of the state, "said Slamet.

Slamet also said, for the affected grouper fish farmers, the CTF has provided support programs to begin diversifying cultivation commodities to non-grouper who have wider market access such as white snapper and starfish in some areas.

"In some areas such as NTB, fish cultivation such as pomfret began to develop. I think we will encourage this as an alternative to commodities other than groupers, "concluded Slamet.

Meanwhile, based on monthly live grouper export volume data from BPS in 2018, shows the pattern that Indonesian grouper exports every year (2014-2018) begin to increase since August and the peak is around December to January of the following year. This pattern shows the trend of grouper exports is quite stable.

This article has been published in news.kkp.go.id with the title “Pembudidaya di Kepulauan Natuna Ekspor Ikan Kerapu Hidup ke Hongkong”