September 5, 2007

Indonesia sees hopes of exporting kerapu fish to the US

The US may soon import frozn 'kerapu' seafish from Indonesia, judging from results of a meeting between Indonesian Director General for Fish Breeding, Made L Nurjana and his US counterparts recently.

During recent meetings with the US FDA on shrimp imports, US officials have also expressed an interest in the fish, Nurjana said Tuesday (Sep 4).

Indonesia currently exports live kerapu fish to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, which meant volumes are limited due to the higher mortality rates. Exporting frozen fish could make it easier to expand volumes, he said.

Having high mortality rates on fish is an immense loss for farmers as they take one full year of breeding before they could be harvested. 

He said that the United States would not limit the volume of its demand for kerapu fish, particularly the 'kerapu tikus' (Cromileptes altivelis)fish type. Indonesia so far has been exporting white kerapu fish only, he added.

A typical kerapu tikus fish is sold for Rp460,000 per kg (US$49).