KOTABARU'S CAPTURED SHRIMPS SET TO BECOME INTERNATIONAL MARKET FAVORITES
By: Buguh Tri Hardianto (Capture Fisheries Officer WWF-Indonesia)
The shrimp commodity is one of the mainstay products of the fisheries sector in Kotabaru Regency, South Kalimantan. The majority of Kotabaru fishermen are shrimp catchers. According to data from the Kotabaru Regency Marine and Fisheries Service (DKP) in 2015, the amount of shrimp production in Kotabaru reached 4,930 tons/year.
"We are committed to preserving shrimp as a mainstay commodity, one of which is through the reserve of the West-South Sea Island and Nine Island Marine Protected Areas," said Said Akhmad, Regional Secretary of Kotabaru Regency.
"By designing a Zoning Plan in Coastal Areas and Small Islands (RZWP3K), the location of fishermen's catches can be carried out according to zoning so that the places where fish including shrimp breed are not disturbed. For this reason, we support the Fisheries Improvement Program (FIP) for Kotabaru's shrimp production that is more environmentally friendly," he continued.
Three sub-districts in the south to east of Laut Island, Kotabaru Regency, have indeed been reserved as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) of West-South Laut Island and Sembilan Island through Kotabaru Regent Decree No. 523.4/918-PPPK/LAPERIK in November 2005.
Tracing the Origin of Kotabaru's Captured Shrimp, to be Trusted by the World Seafood Market
Shrimp as a superior product in Kotabaru and not only marketed domestically, but also abroad such as Japan in the form of fresh/frozen shrimp and basic ingredients for processing shrimp dishes.
PT Sekar Laut Tbk as a member of Seafood Savers, WWF-Indonesia's initiative to bridge industry players in realizing sustainable Indonesian fisheries, is one of the companies that buys shrimp from Kotabaru to be made into crackers and marketed to Europe.
Along with the development of environmental issues, consumers in Europe are starting to be critical about what they consume. The trend of not consuming anything sourced from activities that destroy nature has become widespread there. There are many questions from consumers regarding the origin of the food they consume.
This makes Intersnack Procurement and Unilever as buyers of shrimp crackers from PT Sekar Laut Tbk located in the Netherlands must be able to provide traceability information to consumers.
Therefore, PT Sekar Laut Tbk together with WWF-Indonesia, as well as Intersnack Procurement and Unilever visited Kotabaru on August 28-30, 2018. The purpose of this activity is to explore information on the traceability or traceability of shrimp as raw material for the crackers they produce.
The group, led by Welliam Cung, General Manager, PT Sekar Laut Tbk, visited the location of white shrimp (Fenneropenaeus merguiensis, banana shrimp/prawn) fishermen who are members of KUB. Usaha Bersama and in Sungai Pasir Village, Pulau Laut Tengah Sub-district; and KUB. Tunas Harapan in Senakin Village, Kelumpang Tengah Subdistrict.
"In the FIP program, we record our catches and obstacles in the field," said one of the fishermen from KUB Usaha Bersama during lunch. They shared stories related to the shrimp catching process using gondrong nets or trammel net.
Joint Challenge: Not All Fishermen Use Environmentally Friendly Fishing Gear
The current challenge for PT Sekar Laut Tbk. is that it is not yet fully able to use shrimp produced from gondrong nets. There are still fishermen who fish with lampara (trawl)in Rampak Lama Village, Pulau Laut District. This fishing gear is still classified as less selective and categorized as not environmentally friendly.
This is because the need for shrimp cracker production is high, but cannot be met if it only relies on shrimp caught from the two groups it assists.
KUB. Usaha Bersama and KUB. Tunas Harapan who catch shrimp with environmentally friendly gondrong nets in fishing locations that do not conflict with the zoning of the West-South Sea Island MPA and Pulau Sembilan are pilot projects, pilots for other fishing groups.
The hope is that in the future, the raw materials for PT Sekar Laut Tbk's shrimp crackers will come entirely from fishermen who use gondrong nets. Eventually, it will be ready for the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) ecolabel certification as proof that shrimp crackers from Kotabaru are an environmentally friendly snack.
This will certainly raise the name of Kotabaru to foreign countries through shrimp crackers. Unilever also plans to write the name of the Kotabaru region on the packaging of their shrimp crackers.
"I am sure that if we succeed in obtaining the MSC certificate and Kotabaru's name is known internationally, in the future the fishery product processing business sector will flock to Kotabaru, to buy shrimp caught by Kotabaru fishermen who are known for being environmentally friendly," said Welliam Cung.