Indonesia is one of the main contributors to the world fishery production and the second largest producer of aquaculture. For aquatic plants, particularly seaweed, FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) in 2016 reported Indonesia as the main contributor to the world aquatic plants production growth with the annual growth of seaweed production more than 10 times between 2005 - 2014 and produced seaweed for 36.90 percent of the world total production in 2014.
In line with the increase of world population growth, the fish demand for fulfilling food and nutrient needs is also increasing. The average of the world fish consumption keeps increasing from 6 kg/capita in 1950 to 19.2 kg/capita in 2012 with total fish consumption raising from 50 million tons in the early 1960s to nearly three times.
“In 2014, this average fish consumption became 38 kg per capita per year whilst the national target was 40 kg per capita per year. Therefore, with the area of waters and oceans in Indonesia, our fishery production is potential to be increased,” said UGM Rector, Prof. Ir. Panut Mulyono, M.Eng., D.Eng., at East Parc Hotel Yogyakarta on Monday (24/7), opening the Second International Symposium on Marine and Fisheries Research 2017.
Those facts, according to the UGM Rector, show a clear picture of the global fishery opportunities. Therefore, the development of fishery sector has to be directed to develop a sophisticated, efficient, and resilient fishery sector by utilizing the existing fishery resources.
After all, Indonesia is rich in biodiversities resources, the vast size of seas, while having the second largest coastal line in the world. With the highest seaweed production in the world which is up to 36 percent, Indonesia’s significant contribution to fulfilling the world’s seaweed demand makes Indonesia in a strategic position.
“This is the significant role of UGM in contributing to fisheries sector, one of them is by conducting collaborative research, including collaboration with Australia, particularly for shrimp disease and WSD disease, collaboration with New Zealand in fisheries product processing, as well as collaboration with Solomon Island in seaweed cultivation.
The same statement was also said by Prof. Dr. Ocky Karna Radjasa, M.Sc., Director of Research and Community Service Division in Ministry of Research, Technology, and Higher Education. According to Prof. Ocky, research on fisheries and marine has an essential meaning, as stated in the National Research Master Plan 2017-2045.
“Maritime which is widely regarded as one of the priorities contains research on fisheries and marine. In this case, it needs plenty fisheries and marine sector workforce. Therefore, today’s meeting is a form of dissemination for the research results that we have achieved so far. I believe this meeting gives a positive contribution to maritime development in Indonesia,” said Prof. Ocky.
Indun Dwi Puspita, S.P., M.Sc., Ph.D., chairman of the committee, said the International Symposium on Marine and Fisheries Research (ISMFR) was an extension of the national seminar organized by Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture UGM, where it raised high enthusiasm among the participants while its quality kept increasing.
“This Second International Symposium on Marine and Fisheries Research is an expansion of the national fisheries seminar which is conducted annually by the Department of Fisheries, Faculty of Agriculture UGM. With the increasing number of participants and the increasing quality of papers, we decided to expand it to an international level,” said Indun Dwi Puspita.
This time, ISMFR focused on climate change which currently becomes a hot issue. This symposium discussed research that had been done as an anticipation and readiness in fisheries and marine fields to face climate change.
Although this symposium did not produce a policy, Indun hopes it can build cooperation to uniforming perception in the field of fisheries in order to solve fisheries issues and face climate change comprehensively. This symposium was attended by hundreds of participants. Most of the foreign participants came from Malaysia, Philippines, and Japan. Meanwhile, there were 11 keynote speakers, including Prof. Susumo Ohtsuka from Hiroshima University, Japan, and Prof. Chris Carter from University of Tasmania, Australia.