Head of the Ogan Komering Ulu Fisheries and Livestock Office, Tri Aprianingsih, stated that the regional government still depended on supplies from outside the region to meet the fish consumption needs of people in the region. She delivered the statement in Baturaja on Saturday.
Aprianingsih cited the data that detailed Ogak Komering Ulu region's fish consumption needs were capped at reaching 46.72 kg per capita per year.
The figure was higher in comparison with those of other areas in South Sumatra. Hence, to fulfill the demand, fish stock was supplied from other areas, such as Lampung and Palembang.
The Ogan Komering Ulu Fisheries and Livestock Office has expedited efforts to meet the need by restocking and releasing thousands of fish seeds in the Ogan River.
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"Restocking aims to increase the population and production of local fish that had earlier experienced a decline due to illegal fishing," she recalled.
This year, the regional government had allocated some assistance to the office, sourced from the regional budget, to procure 25 thousand catfish seeds to be released into the Ogan River.
The office had also readied a proposal to be issued to the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry regarding fish seed assistance. The restocking program, halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is expected to be continued.
"The types of fish seeds that we will request for are pangasius, hoven's carp, and hemibagrus. If we look back to 2020, there were some 300 thousand fish. For this year, we do not know how many will be received from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry. Hopefully, the funds would not be cut again," she added.
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Translator: Edo Purmana, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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