One of the key new components of our Asian Fish Welfare Network project is to expand our activities from Thailand and Vietnam to Indonesia. Our Project and Research coordinator, Simão Zacarias, recently spent 2 weeks in the main island, Java, visiting potential academic partners for the project. The main aim was to introduce the Asian Fish Welfare Network Project and explain upcoming activities relevant to Indonesia. He has visited 6 Universities:
Slide Show of Visits
Indonesia is ranked as the second largest aquaculture producer in the world based on FAO production figures (China being the largest). Production increased by over 100% between 2010 and 2015, but has largely stabilised in more recent years at 14-15 million tonnes. This include seaweeds, which comprise the larger proportion of production. Considering just fish and crustaceans, production is around 5.5 million tonnes per year with the most important species being common carp, milkfish, tilapia, pangasius, clarias catfish, whiteleg and black tiger shrimp. A key feature however, is the great variety of species cultured, over 100 are listed in the FAO data of which the majority are fish and crustaceans. Whilst seafood exports have increased in volume over the past ten years, much of the production serves domestic markets.
We look forward to working more closedly with Indonesian partners over the next three years. For the present, you can read more about aquaculture in Indonesia at the World Aquaculture Society.