The Indonesian government has committed to developing sustainable offshore marine aquaculture farming. The materials necessary for cages, a feed barge, and other equipment have been imported from Norway.

The budget allocated for the development of this system was 45 billion Indonesia rupian note (IDR) (about $3.5 million USD) per location, including the software but excluding operational costs. Three locations will serve as pilot models, and state-owned company Perinus will handle the farming operation and market. Each location will have 6 cages, 30 meters in diameter.

In the early stages, in order to be able to fulfill fingerling requirements, Perinus will contract with an already-established hatchery on Jakarta’s north coast, while the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF) continues to establish a hatchery system at each hatchery site.

The development of aquaculture technology for high value marine finfish holds significant potential for Indonesia, and the government expects that the country could become a major supplier of marine products.

The U.S. Soybean Export Council has expressed a great interest in this development, as the production of high volume of high value species will be a key opportunity for USSEC to partner with Indonesian feed manufacturers to include U.S. soybean meal products in forthcoming feeds.