VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has declared East Aceh district as a center for vannamei shrimp farming and set a production target of two million tons per year for the district.

"We expect the shrimp production here to reach as much as two million tons per year, so the region manages to become a center for shrimp production in Aceh and Indonesia," the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono said in East Aceh district on Tuesday.

He visited the district to review a sustainable vannamei shrimp farming cluster in Matang Rayeuk village, Peudawa sub-district.

The region already has the potential to develop shrimp farming, given its large cultivation area and adequate infrastructure, the minister noted.

"Moreover, the characteristics of the sea in East Aceh district cannot be found on Java Island as the sea water in the district is still clean. Thus, the potential will be maximized for shrimp cultivation," he said.

Hence, with the existing potential, the ministry will build 500 to 1,000 hectares of ponds for the cultivation activity, he informed.

Currently, the ministry is building eight plots of shrimp farming ponds, spanning three thousand square meters each, Trenggono said. The construction of the ponds is planned to be completed in November 2021, he added.

"The establishment of the ponds will increase the cultivation productivity, which so far has reached an average of 600 kilograms, to two tons per hectare in every harvest," Trenggono said.

In addition to building a pond cluster, the ministry also plans to build a modern shrimp farming area in the district, he disclosed.

"We are working with the regional government to provide the area by involving the local community as the owners and managers of the ponds. The program is expected to be started next year," he added. (Antaranews)