7 Background

As with many other places in Asia the shrimp industry in Indonesia has seen a dramatic shift in production over the last 20 years from extensive, traditional systems to more intensive, high investment systems and from a native to an exotic species. These changes have enabled the industry to scale-up and initially remove some of the disease risks associated with the farming of the native black tiger shrimp, but across Asia new diseases have caused major impacts—most notably and recently early mortality syndrome (EMS)—although Indonesia apparently remains free of this problem.

One of the areas in which Indonesian shrimp farming first started developing on a larger, more commercial scale was in East Java. In the late 1980s Banyuwangi was one of the first areas to develop and still has a wide mix of small and larger-scale farmers, some still operating the same farms since that time. Many farms have closed and there are clear signs of dereliction and legacy issues of production taking place in former mangrove areas, but there are signs of revitalisation and a growing commitment to ensure that lessons are learnt and acted upon. Although not perfect, there is industry representation across the country and a working relationship between the industry and regulators at both local and national levels.

SFP’s engagement with the industry in Banyuwangi started with a request from a shrimp buyer to review the potential for farms in the area to meet international certification standards. This was followed with some engagement to help the farms to improve, alongside the efforts of other local and international NGOs. In the last two years SFP have scaled up their engagement and recruited a dedicated member of staff to support the industry and regulators to develop zonal management at both the local and national levels.