Papuyu fish, also known as betook fish, is a local specific commodity (that is loved) by the community, especially in Kalimantan. With a relatively high market price and good consumer preferences for local fish, papuyu fish can become a (means) to imJakarta (ANTARA) - The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry confirmed to have distributed some 188 thousand papuyu (Anabas testudieus) fish seeds in the Papuyu Fish Cultivation Village in Central Kalimantan since the start of the program in 2021.
"The total aid allocated by the directorate general of aquaculture reaches 188 thousand papuyu fish seeds since the village was established," the director general of aquaculture at Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry Tb Haeru Rahayu stated in a release on Tuesday.
Last week, the directorate, through the Mandiangin Freshwater Cultivation Fisheries Center, allocated the third tranche of the assistance in the form of 43 thousand papuyu fish seeds to the Papuyu Fish Cultivation Village in Mentaren 2 Village, Kahayan Hilir Sub-District, Pulang Pisau District, Central Kalimantan.
The assistance has been handed over to three Fish Cultivation Groups in the Papuyu Fish Cultivation Village: Tirta Sari Mentaren Group, Anugerah Bersama Group, and Selaras Alam Group.
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He affirmed that the ministry continued to pursue implementing the program, which was initiated by Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono in order to immediately develop good aquaculture villages that employed local wisdom to boost freshwater fish production.
"One real form of the ministry's efforts in (pursuing) the development of cultivation villages by allocating fish seed assistance to the community," he stated.
The Papuyu Fish Cultivation Village in Mentaren 2 Village was one of the aquaculture villages that employs local wisdom, and it was considered to be running well.
Rahayu pointed out that Mentaren 2 Village was one of the villages designated by the ministry as a papuyu fish cultivation village to develop papuyu fish as a valuable local fish commodity. Thus, the directorate general of aquaculture at the ministry has expedited the stimulus assistance to the village.
He deemed the cultivation of local fish commodities, such as papuyu, to offer promising economic potential, as the technology owned and developed has been controlled by the directorate's technical unit, such as the Mandiangin Freshwater Cultivation Fisheries Center.
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“Papuyu fish, also known as betook fish, is a local specific commodity (that is loved) by the community, especially in Kalimantan. With a relatively high market price and good consumer preferences for local fish, papuyu fish can become a (means) to improve the people's welfare," he stated.
He observed that the cultivation of papuyu fish, as one of Indonesia's local endemic fish types, was in line with the initial target of the Cultivation Fisheries Village Program to develop good local commodities to prevent extinction in a bid to preserve Indonesian local fish.
“Through the Mandiangin Freshwater Cultivation Fisheries Center, the ministry constantly puts in efforts to develop breakthrough technologies that are constructive for the benefit of the community, especially cultivators. We have also mastered the use of biofloc system for cultivation of papuyu," he concluded.
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Translator: M Razi Rahman, Mecca Yumna
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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