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Indonesia Tells Shrimp Farmers to Use Local Stock
Arti Ekawati | November 29, 2009

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The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries encouraged shrimp farmers on Sunday to use domestically produced vannamei prawn broodstock whenever possible. Using the domestic variety is seen to reduce the broodstock’s import volume, mostly from Florida in the United States.

Made L Nurdjana, the ministry’s director general of aquaculture and fisheries, said on Sunday that domestically produced broodstock is similar in quality to the imported ones, and more affordable.

“The shrimp fry from local broodstock has a better chance of survival because of its high resistance to disease and can adjust to local climate conditions,” Made said in a telephone interview.

According to ministry data, Indonesia still has to import 320,000 vannamei prawns for breeding stock to meet the annual domestic demand of about 900,000 to 963,000 yearly. By using domestic broodstock, Made expects to reduce imports to only about 100,000 by next year.

“Using local broodstock is more profitable for shrimp growers since it reduces production cost,” Made said.

The price of a pair of Florida shrimp broodstock costs Rp 300,000 to Rp 400,000 ($32 to $43), forcing farmers to pay Rp 35 for each fry.

During their life cycle, a pair of high quality broodstock could produce 700,000 shrimp fry.

In comparison, the local broodstock’s price was only about Rp 50,000 to Rp 75,000, about Rp 15 per shrimp fry.

Iwan Sutanto, chairman of Shrimp Club Indonesia, had earlier said using the local broodstock could reduce production costs by up to Rp 2,000 per kilogram, with recent average production costing about Rp 30,000 a kilogram of vannamei.

Apart from reducing production cost, using local broodstock could also trigger the local broodstock producers to improve their output.

“There will be profitable multiplier effect,” Iwan said.

Made emphasized that the ministry was not forbidding growers from importing broodstock. “If companies consider imported broodstock to support their production process, the ministry will not prohibit them,” he said.

The country is eventually looking to export vannamei, targeting an output of 1.3 million broodstock per year.

“With the demand expected to remain stable, we expect to export the broodstock in 2011,” Made said.

Shrimp cultivation is one of the country’s most important fisheries-related commodities. About $690.3 million worth were exported to the United States in 2007, or roughly 30 percent of total national shrimp exports of $2.3 billion.