REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The marine and fisheries ministry predicted the country's shrimp production would increase 32 percent in 2015 from 2014.

"With the to the potential shrimp breeding farms as well as technology we have the country's shrimp production is projected to reach 785,900 tons in 2015 , up 32 percent from 2014," breeding fisheries director general Slamet Soebjakto said in a statement here on Monday.

Slamet Soebjakto said in five years, the country's shrimp production has increased significantly by 13.9 percent annually.

He said in line with the policy of the Marine and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, he was focused more on utilization of idle fish ponds or revitalization of existing ponds.

"We develop shrimp ponds without damaging the environment such as mangrove forests along the sea beaches," he said.

The marine and fisheries ministry even asked fish farmers to grow mangrove trees around their fish ponds, he said.

Earlier, head of the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Suryamin attributed the growth of economy in the fishery sector in the first quarter of 2015, to growing production and expansion of fish breeding farms.

"Breeding fishery contributes more to the strong growth of the fishery sector," Suryamin said here on Monday.

He said increase in the production of a number of breeding fishery commodities such as sea weed and shrimps is the result of revitalization of shrimp ponds in coastal areas of West Java and Banten.

In addition the increase is also attributable to super intensive utilization of breeding areas in a number of areas in Sulawesi.

BPS has reported that the fishery sector grew 8.64 percent on-year in the first quarter of 2015 as against a growth of only 2.94 percent for the agricultural sector and 1.24 percent for the forestry sector.

However, the growth in the first quarter declined 2.81 percent on bad weather preventing fishermen from going to the sea.

Data at BPS also showed that the number of households making a living from breeding fishery grew from 985,000 in 2003 to 1.2 million households in 2013.

In the same period the number of households living fishermen declined almost 50 percent from 1.6 million in 2003 to 864,000 in 2013.

Based on statistical data in 2010-2014, the production of breeding fishery grew 23 percent per year with the highest growth of 27 percent recorded for seaweed.

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