In the Japan Business and Investment Forum which held on January 29^th 2019, The Indonesian Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Mrs. Susi Pudjiastuti, conveyed the importance of maintaining the sustainability of natural resources for the fisheries business. “Sustainable sources, sustainable business,” said Mrs. Susi.

“Our vision is to make Indonesian sea as our future. So in accordance to that, we have to keep and maintain our marine natural resources remain a lot. If it is only enough to eat, then it will not be interesting for us to do a business,” she explained.

According to her, Indonesian fisheries has done an extraordinary reformation in the last four years. Based on the release of The Guardian, she conveyed that the current haul rate of Indonesian tuna has been increasing. She hopes it could be happened to other types of fish.

“Our aim is to reform fisheries, so that the fisheries industry could get the raw material easier and more sustainable,” said Mrs. Susi. She emphasized that the fisheries reformation is not aimed for limiting or lessen the business profit.

With the same reason, she also conveyed the importance of deciding the immediate real action steps to preserve the various species of marine animals in Indonesia. For example, Anguilla Bicolon a species of eel originally from Indonesia which many businessmen currently export this species. “We should have parameters integrated with technology to track and so on, so that eel trading become a sustainable business,” said Mrs. Susi.

Besides EEL trading, Mrs. Susi also underlined the importance of maintaining the sustainability of torani fish, whose eggs are mostly exported to Japan. “We haven’t had rules like in Japan. For example, the spawning season of this species takes 4 months, so we have to regulate the businessmen to keep them alive at sea for two months and catch them in the next two months,” she explained.

Mrs. Susi expects a support from all fisheries business players, including a partnership with foreign companies. She emphasized that the goals of natural resource sustainability is to maintain the fisheries business keep going and prosperous. “We want the market to start recognizing the sustainability policy of a country. We wish the government of Japan will support public or global policies and also include themselves in the participation of protecting our natural resources. What is it for? For the business to keep going on and on,” she concluded.

At last, Mrs. Susi also invited all fisheries business players from various countries to participate in monthly business forum which held by The Indonesian Ministry of Marine and Fisheries.

Source: Kabar KKP