Riau has 350 ha suitable for finfish culture, almost 10% of the Indonesian total assessed area. Finfish culture has been practised in the province since the early 1980s and is concentrated in the Kepulauan Riau Kabupaten, an area of over 1 000 islands and population of 0.5 million at the southern end of the Straits of Malacca, the nearest islands just two hours from Singapore by small boat. The current status of operations is reported by Tiensongrusmee and Rais (1989); see also Chang (1989) who has reviewed the seafarming investment and marketing potential of Indonesia taking particular account of experience gained in Riau.
There were 21 000 fishermen in the area in 1989 and 43 cage-farm units scattered over seven sub-districts, the most distant being 80 km from P. Batam and P. Bintan, the two largest islands nearest to Singapore. Economic development is concentrated on these two large islands. P. Bintan is the traditional administrative and commercial centre and P. Batam a previously almost uninhabited island now given special status as a duty-free economic zone with a fast-developing economy.
The area has had centuries-old commercial trading links with Singapore, and the numerous island groups in Riau have been favourite fishing grounds for itinerant fishermen from a number of countries seeking high-value fishes in the coral reef areas. Native fishermen have, therefore, been exposed to the practice and desirability of keeping alive those fishes in their catch that warrant top prices.
Income levels in the trading centres, especially amongst the largely Chinese commercial sector, are such that the population is well able to indulge in its traditional taste for a range of fresh seafood. The proximity of these two islands to Singapore means that both the technical sophistication and cost involved in shipping seafood to that prosperous and much larger market are both relatively low.
On the other hand, the number of cage farm units recorded in Riau has remained broadly stable at less than 50 and, assuming that their average size has not changed, it is likely that their annual output has remained approximately at the same level since the early 1980s. Estimates are that output in 1989 was 44 t/year (Tiensongrusmee and Rais, 1989) or approximately 1 t/year per farm. The average farm of the 18 sampled in the two major islands has 6.2 “standard” cages (3 × 3 × 2 m) or just slightly more cage volume than the planning figure of a raft unit of four cages of 3 × 3 × 3 m each. The productivity per unit cage volume estimated in Riau is therefore only one-third of the planning figure used for REPELITA V (the National Plan), i.e., approximately 1 t/year actual against 3 t/year planned.
Possible reasons for this low productivity are given via a questionnaire survey of these farmers in April 1989 (Tiensongrusmee and Rais, 1989). In response to a query on constraints in the development of their business, 100% of respondents reported seed supply as a constraint, 61% feedstuff, 33% capital needs and 17% marketing.
The capture of wild fingerlings from the Riau area is well developed with 85% of Batam and Bintan farmers buying from the 200 fishermen in P. Bintan and 300 fishermen in the southernmost island group of Kecamatan Senayang involved in this special activity. Many of these are financed by fish brokers who presumably control the bulk of the trading in fingerlings. It appears that part of the cage-farming activity in Senayang may be purely a holding operation for locally caught fingerlings pending their collection once a week by Bintan or Batam on-growers.
Cage farmers in Riau use trash fish as the main feed for grow-out purposes: 50% of farmers obtained at least some feed supplies from their own lift nets; these nets themselves provided a useful daily income from the 40–50 kg of quality fish suitable for direct human consumption. However, half the farmers purchased some or all their feed requirement from village cooperatives or the town markets. The annual feed requirement for the area was estimated to be 124 t or about 0.1% of the total estimated marine capture fishery landings of 156 700 t in 1987 (DGF, 1989). Prices as high as Rp 250–400/kg for trash fish reflect the general popularity of seafood in the Province, the very wide range of species accepted by such consumers and the proximity of a significant export market in Singapore for most species and sizes of fish. Fish surplus to human needs is therefore in short supply.
Of the 18 farmers interviewed in P. Bintan and Batam only six and three respectively quoted capital and marketing as constraints towards development of their business. This may reflect that capital is generally readily available from the fish traders who handle exports to Singapore and that the majority of cage farmers are satisfied with their level of dependence upon those key operators in the distribution channel.
What does the experience of Riau indicate for realistic production potentials for seafarming in Indonesia ?
Available data on production and the structure of the cage-farming industry and the marketing chain for its inputs and outputs are still very scant: therefore there must be considerable conjecture as to reliability. The following facts are, however, indisputable:
The industry is market-led by a strong demand for specific species and specific product forms in an easily accessible market: Singapore. In the market sector for live top quality marine fish, Tiensongrusmee and Rais (1989) estimated Riau production to be 44 t, barely 10% that of domestic Singapore production, and its production meets no more than 5% of Singapore market demand. Elsy (1987) estimated a considerably higher production, about 15 times this level, based on calculations of product flow, but gave no estimate of domestic consumption in Riau.
The same strong market accessibility exists for inputs for cage-farming. Trading links being as well developed as they are with Singapore, any of the inputs required for cage-farming will tend to gravitate towards the best paying market. Since Singaporean fish farmers have more technologically advanced systems and are closer to the end-user markets it is probable that they can afford higher input-costs for seed and draw seed supplies away from their Riau origins simultaneously boosting the prices which Riau farmers must pay to secure seed.
Where there are few logistical problems to the movement of inputs and products within an area, a producer must conduct only that sector of farming operations in which he is competitive. Riau may, therefore, be faced with adopting the role of collector and supplier of wild seedlings whose export value per se is greater than their discounted value as input for domestic grow-out operations.
Without the development of new sources of local feed-stuff specifically for aquaculture, similar economic forces will govern the cost and availability of presently used feedstuffs as have been theorized for seed supply.
Cage farming of premium finfish has at least as much potential to create employment in the supply of inputs such as seed and feedstuffs as in the husbandry operation itself.
It would appear that Riau cage-farming has reached an equilibrium level in its economic viability vis-à-vis the Singapore-centred market and this may be the case for several other production centres nearby in Malaysia. The rate of improvement in Riau's production cost and capability may not be fast enough to give Riau a comparative advantage over other market participants and it may therefore remain principally a source of seed supply for external grow-out operations.
This does not mean that other Indonesian production areas are destined to a similarly restricted role. Skills of Riau operators may be more than adequate to sustain successful grow-out operations elsewhere if other factors are favourable, i.e., greater availability of and less external demand for seedlings, and greater availability and less attractive alternative uses for “trash” fish.
The potential for production of seafarmed finfish in Indonesia cannot be forecast more accurately at present because the availability of seedlings, feedstuffs, skilled labour and markets have not been assessed for each area considered environmentally suitable.
REFERENCES
Chang, K.C. 1989 Seafarming investment and marketing profile for Indonesia. Report prepared for the Seafarming Development Project. Sumatra, FAO, FI:INS/81/008, 100 p.
Elsy, P. 1987 A marketing strategy for seafarmed products in Indonesia. A report prepared for the Seafarming Development Project. Rome, FAO, FI:INS/81/008/2, 33 p.
Tiensongrusmee, B. and S. B. Rais. 1989 Marine fish netcage operation in the Riau Kepulauan District of Indonesia. FAO, FI: INS/81/008/12, 21 p.
