by
Mr. Soewito Director, Directorate for Living Resources Management Directorate General of Fisheries
Distinguished SCSP Representatives, distinguished guests and participants of the Working Party on Small-Scale Shrimp/Prawn Hatchery, on behalf of the Director General of Fisheries, who is not able to be with us on this special day, I wish to extend to all of you a warm welcome to the city of Semarang.
I further wish to thank the Governor of Central Java and his staff, the Central Java Fisheries Service and the Project Managers of the INFIDEP Project and the FAO/UNDP Small-Scale Fisheries Extension Project, for all their efforts and assistance in the preparation and organizing of this Working Party meeting.
It is indeed a great honour for the Government of Indonesia that the FAO/SCSP has chosen our country as the place for this Working Party meeting and for giving us the opportunity to arrange this meeting.
As we know, shrimp/prawn is one of the high-priced fishery commodities in the international market today. This is the reason that many countries are presently interested in developing and expanding the production of this commodity. So far, however, the availability of shrimp/prawn in the sea and open water is limited and a continuous catch thereof brings the risk of overfishing and possibly a loss of this valuable resource if it is not well managed.
Taking into consideration the possibility of depletion of these resources, it is therefore of the greatest importance to develop the cultivation of shrimp/prawn, starting with a setting up of small-scale shrimp/ prawn hatcheries and step-by-step to gradually change over from capture fisheries to intensification of cultivation activities, which would at the same time preserve the natural stock.
The development of shrimp/prawn hatchery is also an important factor in securing an increase in the production of the necessary fry and to make this item available to the farmers at a reasonable price.
The yield of shrimp/prawn fry from natural production only does not meet the demand of fry needed. Since several years a number of countries, including Indonesia, have taken efforts to overcome this problem by way of artificial breeding.
In Indonesia efforts are being taken by way of extending this to the small-scale fishfarmers and in a number of places trials are being carried out on a small-scale capital basis.
Actually it would be easy to achieve the target of the needed shrimp/ prawn fry if the Government, or we, stimulate the private sector in establishing the shrimp hatcheries. However, our Government's policy, and other ASEAN countries, is that usually the shrimp hatcheries should be tackled by the small-scale fishfarmers. A search for the best way of artificial breeding has meanwhile already started in the countries concerned.
This Working Party on Small-Scale Shrimp/Prawn Hatchery, which has been initiated and sponsored by the South China Sea Fisheries and Coordinating Poogramme is therefore highly appreciated, as it is just the right time to give the experts of this region the opportunity to come together and discuss their problems and exchange their experiences in this field with one another. It is therefore sincerely hoped that this meeting will prove to be a valuable contribution towards the future development of the shrimp/prawn hatcheries in this region.
May I wish you much success in your deliberations! Thank you.
I now declare this Working Party Meeting on Small-Scale Shrimp/Prawn Hatchery as opened!
