Discourse on re-exporting baby lobsters is coloring the media amid the government\'s intension to revise policies that prohibit shrimp exports.
By
·3 minutes read
Pros and cons of baby lobster exports emerged after Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo said he would revise the rules regarding lobsters. The government issued Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministerial Regulation No. 56/2016 concerning the prohibition of catching and taking lobsters (Panulirus spp), crabs (Scylla spp), and rajungan (Portunus spp) out of Indonesian territory.
The regulation regarding baby lobster exports is only one of 29 regulations in the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry that are being evaluated. Regulations regarding lobsters, according to Edhy, cause polemics (Kompas, 19/12/2019). The evaluation will bring together the sustainability of the fishermen and natural environment.
Polemics do not need to occur if we return to the goal of development to improve people\'s welfare and sustainable growth. President Joko Widodo, responding to the lobster polemic lately, stressed, the most important thing is that the state and fishermen both benefit, and the environment is not damaged.
In our investigation report, Kompas found that baby lobsters had been caught and later smuggled. One of Indonesia\'s baby lobster markets is Vietnam. The country manages to grow baby lobster with a success rate of 70-80 percent for exports.
Before making a decision, it is better for the ministry to conduct a comprehensive audit, starting from the location of lobsters in nature, its potential, how fishermen utilize baby lobsters and the lobsters, where lobster farming has been carried out in Indonesia, up to research that has been carried out in breeding and raising lobsters.
Lobster farming is not easy. The results of breeding lobsters through our aquaculture have not been encouraging. The success rate is low, only one percent.
Indonesia has a number of marine areas that are ideal for natural lobster breeding, namely in southern Java to parts of West Nusa Tenggara.
Now is the time for everyone to work on developing our marine industry.
To combine efforts to preserve lobster reserves and their sustainable utilization, there is no other way except through the development of lobster breeding technology and aquaculture. In addition to KKP and universities, fishermen also need to be involved because of their mastery of local wisdom.
Mastery of technology will provide more added value to the country, fishermen and businesspeople, when we can do the entire process, starting from producing seedlings, farming, to marketing, by ourselves.
The Constitution mandates that the earth, water and natural resources contained therein be controlled by the state and used for the good of the people. Now is the time for everyone to work on developing our marine industry.