November 11, 2025
Indonesian minister points to country's blue food potential in supporting global food security
Indonesia's Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister, Sakti Wahyu Trenggono, highlighted the country's vast blue food potential as a key contributor to global food security, particularly through the development of sustainable aquaculture.
Speaking at a public lecture at Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta on November 7, he said Indonesia's blue food production - covering capture fisheries, aquaculture, and seaweed - reaches at least 24 million tonnes per year.
To ensure the sustainability of wild fish populations, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries is working to increase production, especially from the aquaculture sector. Trenggono noted that Indonesia's current aquaculture output averages around 5.6 million tonnes annually.
He added that Indonesia has nearly 18 million hectares of land suitable for aquaculture, but only about 1.2 million hectares have been utilised.
"Aquaculture is the future, and we have been developing modern farming models for several commodities, including saline tilapia in Karawang," he said in a statement.
The initiative in Karawang has been expanded into a broader pond revitalisation programme for saline tilapia farming, with its initial phase covering 20,000 hectares in West Java.
The program is projected to produce about 1.56 million tonnes of saline tilapia per year. This increase is supported by modern farming technologies that can raise productivity from 0.6 tonnes to 130 tonnes per hectare per cycle.
On market prospects, Trenggono expressed optimism, citing the world's growing protein demand. He identified the Middle East as a promising export destination due to its high tilapia consumption and the presence of a large Indonesian diaspora.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the global population is expected to grow by more than 30% by 2050, driving protein demand up by as much as 70%.
- Antara
