REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The fisheries export target of US$5.4 billion set by the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries for 2015 is unrealistic, according to the People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice (Kiara).

"The reference for fish trade is the value of the dollar. In the wake of the depreciating value of the rupiah, the target of US$5.4 billion is unrealistic," Secretary General of Kiara Abdul Halim said here on Tuesday.

After all, the export destination countries are also tightening their import conditions, including on fisheries products, he added.

In addition, the competitiveness of fisheries businesses in the country, particularly among small-scale fisheries, is still relatively low.

"As a result, fishermen, fisherwomen and fish breeders who operate on a small scale do not gain from the export revenue, even though the government claims that the value of fisheries exports is higher than that of fisheries imports," he stated.

So Kiara has urged the government to consistently develop downstream fisheries processing industries to ensure that their exports no longer depend on fresh or unprocessed fish.

"If processing industries are developed, the export target set can be achieved, and small-scale fishermen can also reap the benefits," Halim suggested here on Tuesday.

He further noted that fisheries exports should be carried out in accordance with law number 31/2004 juncture law number 45/2009 on fisheries by linking fisheries businesses from upstream to downstream where products are already processed.

Moreover, Director General of Fish Processing and Marketing Saut Hutagalung affirmed in Jakarta on January 5 that the value of Indonesia's fisheries exports in 2014 amounted to only US$4.6 billion, below the target of US$5.1 billion set for that year.

Earlier, the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI) urged fisheries industries in the country to abide by the law that requires them to build fish processing units (UPIs) to accommodate and buy fishermen's catch.

"The number of fisheries industries that abide by the law and build UPIs is very low," Chairman of the Advisory Council of the KNTI M. Riza Damanik informed on Monday.

In this regard, Damanik remarked that the association is calling on the government to adopt a serious outlook towards developing industries in the fisheries downstream sector.

This could serve as the key to bringing about a change in the economic growth of the fisheries sector in the coming five years.

It will also change the direction of development of fisheries industries from being production-based to value-based, he added.

Damanik also pointed out that fisheries industries exhibited low level of compliance to regulations, which was evident from the dismal number of UPIs they developed.

Of the more than one thousand ex-foreign vessels that were granted permits to operate in Indonesian waters in 2014, only a small number had built UPIs---some 33 units in total. This contradicts the notion that Indonesia could, indeed, develop some 150 UPIs.

Based on the minister's regulations on catch fish businesses, he stressed that a permit can only be issued if the industries concerned have the ability to develop UPIs, or tie up with industries that have UPIs already certified to process the catch (SKP).

Furthermore, the Ministry of Trade set an export target of US$192.5 billion for 2015, 4.4 percent higher than the target set last year.

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