Steps Back for Exports of Sea Sand and Lobster Seeds

The reopening of exports of sea sand and clear lobster seeds is considered to cause more losses.

KOMPAS/YOLA SASTRA

Several casuarina trees collapsed on the shores of Pasir Jambak Village, Pasie Nan Tigo Subdistrict, Koto Tangah District, Padang City, West Sumatra, on Tuesday (31/10/2023). In addition to the large waves during the south wind season, abrasion was also triggered by the absence of wave breakers in this area. Dozens of trees fell due to abrasion and several residents' houses are at risk of being eroded.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The resumption of exports of sea sand and clear lobster seeds is considered to be a turning point for the maritime Indonesia which carries downstreaming. Extracting raw resources to boost state revenues is contrary to the principle of sustainability.

In 2024, the government has established two new policies that will reopen the exploitation and export of sea sand, as well as transparent lobster seeds. Previously, exports of sea sand had been banned for 20 years, while the export of transparent lobster seeds had been open and closed over the past 10 years.

Executive Director of the Maritime Study Center for Humanity, Abdul Halim, believes that the government's way of thinking in pursuing non-tax state revenue (PNBP) by reopening the exploitation and export of sea sand and clear lobster seeds is a reversed logic that needs to be corrected.

"The estimated non-tax state revenue to be obtained will not be comparable to the well-being value received by the coastal community, fishermen, and local breeders," said Halim when contacted in Jakarta on Wednesday (24/4/2024).

Also read: Foreign Companies Aim to Purchase Indonesian Sea Sand

From data from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), the potential volume of sea sand offered by the government is 17.64 billion cubic meters, including the Java Sea of ​​5.58 billion cubic meters, the Makassar Strait 2.97 billion cubic meters, and the Natuna-North Natuna Sea 9.09 billion cubic meters.

Up to April 2024, 66 business players have been recorded registering for sea sand mining concessions with a minimum volume of 3.3 billion cubic meters. Each company proposes varying volumes of sea sand mining, ranging from 50 million to 200 million cubic meters (Kompas.id, 24/4/2024). These companies are planned to partner with 51 sea sand suction ship companies, as well as 54 domestic and foreign sea sand buyers.

Several partner companies of potential buyers of sea sand are recorded to come from China, Johor (Malaysia), and Brunei Darussalam. Meanwhile, the proposed dredging companies come from the Netherlands, Belgium, Japan, Singapore, and China.

Country income

The calculation of PNBP tariffs for the use of domestic sea sand is set at 30% of the value of the selling price of sea sand multiplied by the volume of sand taken, while the use of sea sand for foreign countries is 35% of the value of the selling price multiplied by the volume of sea sand harvested. The HPP for domestic use of sea sand is set at IDR 93,000 per cubic meter, while the HPP for foreign use is set at IDR 186,000 per cubic meter, in accordance with Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Decision No. 6 of 2024 regarding Amendments to Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Decision No. 82/2021 concerning Benchmark Prices of Sea Sand in the Calculation of Non-Tax State Revenue Tariffs.

If a company obtains a quota of 50 million square meters of offshore sand mining for foreign use, the PNBP tariff for offshore sand that will be obtained is IDR 3.25 trillion per company.

Also read: 90 Percent of Lobster Seed Stock in Indonesia Can Be Dredged

KOMPAS/BAHANA PATRIA GUPTA

Members of the Indonesian Navy look at evidence of baby lobsters during the release of attempts to smuggle baby lobsters which will be sent to Singapore via Surabaya's Juanda International Airport in Sidoarjo, East Java, Tuesday (18/10/ 2022). A total of 29 bags of lobster seeds were confiscated from a hospital suspect on Monday (17/10/2022). After inspection, it was discovered that the number of clear lobster seeds (BBL) was 26,432 with a state loss of IDR 1.3 billion.

Meanwhile, the export faucet for clear lobster seeds which also started this year has set a quota of 419,213,719 scoops of clear lobster seeds that can be harvested and exported, which is 90 percent of the estimated stock of seeds. If a PNBP tariff of Rp 6,000 per scoop is imposed on each clear lobster seed, a total of Rp 2.51 trillion will be collected from sending 419,213,719 scoops.

FishStat data from the World Food Organization (FAO) in 2024 indicates Vietnam's dependence on Indonesia's clear lobster seed supply to cultivate lobster in the country. In 2020, when lobster seed exports were opened, around 95.86 percent of clear lobster seed imports were sourced from Indonesia. Meanwhile, in 2019 and 2021 when seed exports were banned, the lobster seed entered Vietnam via Singapore.

"Instead of bringing prosperity to small-scale fishing communities, the government is actually opening up the possibility of natural disasters in coastal areas due to massive extraction of sea sand, as well as a food disaster in the fishing industry as a result of the exploitation of clear lobster seeds," said Halim.

Reckless

The Head of the Center for Coastal and Marine Resources Studies at IPB University, Yonvitner, stated that the policy of exporting sea sand and transparent lobster seeds is only pursuing income, but it is not coherent with various other policies towards a developed maritime country. The large-scale mining and exploitation of sea sand and transparent lobster seeds is not an indicator of progress in the marine and fisheries sector.

On the other hand, exports demonstrate that Indonesia is actually improving other countries while falling further behind itself. The short-lived growth of the maritime economy from exporting raw materials is considered unsustainable. "Singapore, waiting for the sand to fall from the sky, will be driven to become the world's largest seaport country," he said.

Also read: Lobster Seed Export Mechanism Has the Potential to Create Monopoly Practices

Meanwhile, the Manager of the National Executive Campaign for Coastal and Marine Affairs of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), Parid Ridwanuddin, criticized the government for selling sea sand to foreign companies. This move is considered contradictory to the discourse of sustainability in the sea and blue economy that the government has been promoting in various international forums.

Parid believes that the distribution of sea sand to 66 companies is a reckless move that disregards the principles of ecological and climate justice for coastal communities, especially traditional and small-scale fishermen who rely on fishing in the sea. Walhi assesses that the damage and loss of biodiversity, including the economic losses of fishermen, are far greater than what is obtained from non-tax state revenue.

"The mining of sea sand will only give birth to large-scale and long-term ecological damage, including perpetuating poverty for coastal communities. This policy will not be able to realize Indonesia in 2045 as it has been boasted, but rather should be called Indonesia anxious 2045," he said.

The cost required for environmental restoration due to sea sand mining damage is much higher, up to five times larger. If a company obtains a quota of 50 million cubic meters of sea sand mining volume for foreign use, and is charged a PNBP sea sand tariff of IDR 3.25 trillion, then the cost required to restore the damage amounts to IDR 16.74 trillion.

"Indonesia is actually not benefiting, but suffering and even ecologically bankrupt due to this sea sand mining. Various experiences of the sinking of dozens of small islands in the past due to sand mines should be a lesson for the government that state revenue cannot bring back the small islands that have sunk," he said.

Also read: Sea Sand Exports Highlighted