Jakarta – The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) sealed 971 boxes containing 9.7 tons of frozen imported salmons or Frozen Pacific Mackarel in West Kalimantan.
The sealing was carried out because the imported fish, which should have been intended for industry, was allegedly circulating not according to the designation in the city of Pontianak and its surroundings.
Director General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Monitoring (PSDKP), Laksda TNI Dr. Adin Nurawaluddin, M. Han emphasized that this action not only violates the applicable regulations, but has also caused the price of local fish in the market to drop and caused fishermen to lose money.
“A total of three fish warehouses in West Kalimantan are suspected of storing imported fish and are indicated to have committed violations of the circulation of imported fish that are not in accordance with their designation. The fish is sealed, so that it does not circulate in the market, thus stopping the fall in the price of local fish in Pontianak and its surroundings,” Adin said in his statement, Thursday (5/25/2024).
Adin explained that based on the results of the Pontianak PSDKP Station Fisheries Supervisor’s inspection in the field, imported salem-type fish that should be intended for the industry is sold at retail in local markets in Pontianak and its surroundings at a price of IDR 21,000 per kg. This price is cheaper than the price of fish caught by local fishermen which is sold at Rp28,000 per kg.
For this reason, Adin immediately mobilized officers in the field to trace the warehouses where the imported fish circulated.
The search results showed that the imported fish came from three different fish warehouses located in West Kalimantan, including 145 boxes containing 1,450 kg of fish in the warehouse of PT MSM in Rasau Jaya, Kuburaya Regency, 306 boxes containing 3,060 kg of fish in the warehouse of PT WEL in Sekadau Regency, and 520 boxes containing 5,200 kg of fish in a warehouse owned by TSS in Singkawang City.
“From the three warehouse locations visited by the Directorate General of PSDKP, a total of 9.7 tons of imported salem fish were temporarily sealed until the results of the follow-up inspection of importers in Jakarta were declared complete,” said Adin.
Furthermore, Adin said that his office has mobilized Fisheries Supervisors at the Jakarta PSDKP Base to investigate importers located in Jakarta. For the purpose of the investigation, the three sealed companies are currently temporarily prohibited from selling imported salted fish and breaking the seals and lines of Fisheries Supervisors in their respective warehouses.
KKP’s firm action is a form of KKP’s firm commitment to protect fishermen in accordance with Law Number 7 of 2016 concerning Protection and Empowerment of Fishermen, Fish Cultivators and Salt Farmers. Previously, Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono has also stated that his party continues to improve the welfare of fishermen through the transformation of sustainable marine and fisheries resource management with five blue economy priority programs.
