November 01, 2023
Shrimp in general has seen an increase in popularity due to it having a significant potential whether from local to international market demands between many fisheries products. This potential has undoubtedly sparked the development of shrimp productions for exportation purposes with Indonesia being no exception in their efforts of being one of if not the leading shrimp producers in the world. The aforementioned effort in development can be traced back from the 1975–1980 period where there was a fairly high increase in shrimp increase in the country. This is also followed by extensification as well as intensification of tambak in efforts to push private sectors to invest in shrimp culturing ponds which rapidly increase the production and exports of shrimp.
Due to its global demand, it is safe to assume that shrimp production in Indonesia will be continued in its development. This can also be seen in the government’s target of increasing the nation’s total exports by 250% in 2024. But this begs the question of the current situation of shrimp production and export in Indonesia, what the current value of shrimp exports internationally, and what efforts have to be done in further developing this potential.
Shrimp in Indonesia is one of the leading export commodities which is said to contribute 30-40% of fisheries export with continued effort to further increase its production projection according to demands. With the nation’s target in increasing overall exports, various cultivation efforts are enacted with the recent one of them being the “traditional plus” cultivation method, which are needed to boost competitiveness in production. The target is said to be a 15 percent growth in annual export volume and 20 percent increase in export value which may hopefully contribute in decreasing Indonesia’s dependency for exports. However, it turns out that shrimp production was on decline especially in 2022 despite the cultivation efforts with the export volume of shrimp was up to 240,000 tons worth $2.16 billion in 2022, compared with 2021’s 250,700 tons worth $2.23 billion. The aforementioned decrease in shrimp production according to Indonesian Shrimp Forum chairman Budhi Wibowo was caused by white spot disease, which reduced the survival rate of shrimp and premature shrimp harvests.
According to other sources, the actual performance of production and cultivation on shrimp in Indonesia also needs further improvement especially in the survival rate (SR) and feed conversion rate (FCR) of the shrimps. Although the majority of shrimp ponds are able to encourage shrimp growth rate (ADG) of at least 0.2 to 0.3 grams/day, cultivating without balancing on the SR and FCR may prove difficult in significant progress of production. Some have noted the importance of water quality, constant maintenance of the farmer, and the tracking cultivation period in managing SR and FCR, decreasing the likelihood of fluctuations, and maintaining stability in the cultivation process.
Action needs to be taken in hopes of facing the fierce competition between countries known to be world’s largest shrimp producing nations such as Ecuador, Vietnam and India. This is also followed by new competitors like Saudi Arabia and other Middle East and North African countries which have done various ramifications in increasing shrimp ponds and shrimp production. Those aspects not only reinforces the idea of how much potential shrimp exportation is but also pushes the need for Indonesia in stepping up their production efficiency of shrimp while also considering and researching new potential markets for export destinations, such as Japan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia to name a few.
Various gaps that hold back the shrimp production in Indonesia have been discussed whether that be briefly in this writing or other resources, these obstacles in turn can create several opportunities or ways in counteracting or dealing with these issues directly. Some things that can be done include:
In conclusion, shrimp along with other fisheries resources of Indonesia has many opportunities in the international market and exports as new or existing demands increase in the world. Continuous efforts of course are needed to eliminate or reduce existing obstacles to further increase the effectiveness and efficiency of overall production. The success rate of competing with other exporting countries is largely dependent on further efforts in improving production, stability, and monitoring of the cultivation process while staying on top of threats and obstacles.
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