REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PAINAN -- The administration of South Pesisir district, West Sumatra, will use the floating net technology to promote grouper cultivation.

"Approximately 500 hectares of shallow marine waters are available in the district. The area has the potential to be developed for grouper cultivation because it is free of pollution," Head of Marine and Fisheries South Pesisir district Yozky Wandri noted here on Monday (12/1).

The shallow waters in the district are located in three sub-districts: Koto XI Tarusan sub-district about 230 hectares, IV Jurai sub-district about 60 hectares, and the rest are in the Batangkapas sub-district.

Until now, only 10 percent of the total area has been newly developed for grouper aquaculture using floating cages by the local communities.

Grouper fish cultivation in the district was started in 2009 in Koto XI Tarusan located in Mandeh, a tourist area.

The cultivation has been managed by the local communities in collaboration with a private company. The grouper varieties cultivated in the region are humpback grouper (Cromileptes altivelis) and tiger grouper (Mycteroperca tigris).

Since 2011, the government, through the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, has been developing the business by providing floating net cages along with grouper seeds and feed for a group of fishermen in the area.

Aquaculture development is being carried out through collaboration between Australian foreign investors and a group of local fishermen. The investors only lend assistance for floating net cages and the markets to sell their produce.

"We hope that the development of marine aquaculture through the implementation of the floating net technology can help to boost the livelihood of fishermen," Wandri affirmed.

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