REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Minister of Maritime and Fishery Affairs Susi Pudjiastuti asks fishery business to export more fish to Singapore and Malaysia. Recent Indonesian policy taken by the minister has made the two countries suffer fish shortage.
Pudjiastuti claimed that she had informed about shortage of fish in Singapore and Malaysia due to the ban on transhipment in Indonesian waters. "The price of fish in Singapore and Malaysia is soaring. We get the advantage to export more," Pudjiastuti said on Tuesday, December 2.
Fish price is Indonesia is still affordable as the supply is manageable. She said that people living in Indonesia could easily buy fresh fish.
Earlier, tuna fishing sector claimed that they inflicted losses due to the ban. Vice Chairman of Indonesia Tuna Association (Astuin) Eddy Yuwono said the ban forced them to pay twice than usual. "We need a strategy to press operational cost. Government must distinguish transhipment. Not every fish in the transhipment is taken abroad," he said.