High Fish Consumption, Minister Trenggono Explores Potential For Cooperation With Portugal

KKP Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia, Maria Joao Falcao Poppe Lopes Cardoso and Indonesian Ambassador to Portugal, Rudy Alfonso/ Instagram

JAKARTA - The Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono is exploring the potential for cooperation with Portugal in the marine and fisheries sector, especially those related to the fish processing industry.

"Portugal is a country with a fairly high level of fish consumption," said Minister Trenggono in a press release in Jakarta, Thursday, December 16.

In addition, he said, there are several large-scale canned fish fishing industries which of course require quality raw materials.

The Indonesian Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries discussed this when meeting with the Portuguese Ambassador to Indonesia, Maria Joao Falcao Poppe Lopes Cardoso, and the Indonesian Ambassador to Portugal, Rudy Alfonso in Jakarta, December 15, 2021.

Based on data from the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries of the Republic of Indonesia (KKP), several Indonesian fishery products that are in demand in the global market are shrimp, tuna skipjack tuna, crab crabs, octopus cuttlefish, and seaweed.

The largest importing countries for Indonesian fishery products are the United States, China, Japan, ASEAN, and the European Union (Portugal is one of the countries in the European Union region.

Minister Trenggono said Indonesia was also open to investment to accelerate the development of the marine and fisheries sector. To encourage this acceleration, the KKP has prepared a breakthrough program in the form of a measured fishing policy.

He stated that the fishing policy with the zoning and quota system was an effort to balance ecological and economic interests.

In addition, according to him, the policy is to ensure the quality of the fishery products produced.

"We are increasing the growth of the fisheries industry, and this opportunity is open as long as it does not interfere with ecological sustainability," said Minister Trenggono at the meeting.

So far, Indonesia and Portugal do not have a maritime and fisheries cooperation agreement, but they are both involved in the establishment of the High Level Panel for an Economy Sustainable Development of the Oceans in 2018. These two maritime countries also support and fight for maritime issues, especially regarding marine health.

The potential for cooperation is not only in the economic field, but also in the environment, maritime infrastructure, aquaculture technology, to maritime culture and human resource capacity building, including the protection of Indonesian migrant workers crew members of Portuguese fishing vessels.

Meanwhile, the Portuguese Ambassador Maria Joao Falcao Poppe Lopes Cardoso assessed that the cooperation between the two countries was indeed very potential. For that, he will convey the results of the dialogue with Minister Trenggono to his government.

The Portuguese Ambassador also invited Minister Trenggono to attend the UN Ocean Conference which will be held in Lisbon on June 27 - July 1, 2022.