Ornamental Fish From Central Kalimantan Can Reach ASEAN Market

One type of Canna fish, ornamental fish from Central Kalimantan. (Between/Rendhik Andika)

JAKARTA - Several types of natural ornamental fish from Central Kalimantan Province have succeeded in penetrating foreign markets, including in the ASEAN countries.

"There are types of natural betta fish, gurame, brown, paros, botia and several types of canna. For the Southeast Asian market, the most demand is from Malaysia and Thailand and the Philippines," said the lawyer and ornamental fish seller Muhammad Iqbal Ridani in Palangka Raya as quoted by Antara, Sunday.

Because it penetrates the overseas market, the selling price of fish obtained from nature in Central Kalimantan is also higher than the domestic price.

"For natural bettas here the value is low, but if you go abroad, a pair can be highly valued, if we make it up to Rp. 250 thousand, depending on the type and size," said the man who is one of the BUMN outsourced employees.

The man who has struggled with the local ornamental fish world since 2019 stated that foreign market opportunities for various types of ornamental fish are still high. In fact, it also includes opportunities for foreign sales of the types of water plants native to Kalimantan.

"In fact, some types of ornamental fish and water plants have also penetrated the Chinese and German markets. However, this opportunity has not been maximally exploited because currently there are not many cultivators on a large scale, either for ornamental fish or water plants," he said.

In fact, he continued, several types of fish that Iqbal sold had to be "ordered" to fishermen in a number of areas in Central Kalimantan when there was demand from foreign markets.

Head of the Quarantine, Quality Control and Safety Station of Class 1 Fisheries Products Palangka Raya Miharjo, said that the sale of ornamental fish from Central Kalimantan to penetrate foreign markets must meet a number of criteria.

Therefore, to maintain quality and quality as well as fulfill export standards and the domestic market, his party also continues to conduct fish checks before the delivery process is carried out.

The examination is to ensure that the fish sent meets the established standards or criteria, including to ensure that the fish sent are healthy, disease-free, and viruses that can be harmful.

"The submission process is also very easy. Two days before sending people to our office or submitting applications online. For information, you can also come to our office," said Miharjo.

According to him, sales abroad, for ornamental fish, there are bonia fish and also betta fish, catfish and betutu and canna.

SKIPM Palangka Raya noted, during 2022 several types of live fish from Central Kalimantan that penetrated the foreign market reached 251,050 with a total commodity value of more than Rp4.1 billion.