The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) wants the Gresik Regency Government, East Java, to continue to protect the milkfish ponds from being converted because the success of milkfish cultivation in the area needs to be preserved. "Pond land is something that needs to be considered, and its existence needs to be maintained," said Director General of Aquaculture KKP Tb Haeru Rahayu in a written statement in Jakarta, Monday. He stated that the success of milkfish cultivation in Gresik Regency has been very widely heard, this has made the KKP designate Gresik Regency as a milkfish cultivation village for some time. Indications of this success are because the area is considered to have very good land potential, has a stretch of pond land that reaches 28 thousand hectares, with milkfish productivity of 87 thousand tons per year, capable of generating income of up to Rp. 1.4 trillion. "This is not a small number, it can even continue to increase if it can be developed properly," he said. Given the potential of land in Gresik Regency which is very productive, KKP asked the Gresik Regency Government to maintain and ensure that the pond area in Gresik should not be displaced by the rate of industrial growth.
According to Tb Haeru Rahayu, in addition to having a large pond area, Gresik also has the potential for natural resources such as natural food, as well as the potential for supporting human resources such as in Pangkahwetan Village, Ujungpangkah District, Gresik Regency. Tebe, as Tb Haeru Rahayu is familiarly called, said that apart from community support and participation, a key factor in the sustainability and success of the aquaculture village program is the existence of ponds that remain productive, so that local government commitments are needed to seriously keep the ponds from being lost. "The development of the milkfish farming village in Gresik Regency is an effort by the KKP to develop the local and regional economy based on integrated aquaculture that produces continuous and scheduled production, and increases the income and welfare of farmers," said Tebe. Responding to this, the Regent of Gresik, Fandi Akhmad Yani admitted that he was committed to jointly safeguarding the existing ponds in Gresik Regency. In fact, according to him, Gresik Regency through the stipulation of a Regional Regulation (Perda) on the Gresik Regency Spatial Planning (RTRW) to keep the ponds in Gresik Regency maintained. "We already have a regional regulation, to establish a fishing area in the RTRW regional regulation, so that the land will not be eroded, and will remain a pond," said Regent Fandi. He also said he was grateful to the KKP through the Directorate General of Aquaculture for establishing Gresik Regency as a milkfish farming village. By being designated as a milkfish farming village, he hopes that it will be able to increase milkfish production in Gresik Regency, where the development of aquaculture fishery village is very necessary for the establishment of synergy between the central government, provincial government, to district, even village level. Meanwhile, the Head of Pangkahwetan Village, Syaifullah Mahdi said, the formation of a milkfish farming fishing village in Gresik Regency was able to increase milkfish production, and be able to capture business opportunities for milkfish cultivation for the export market in the future. "And what is no less interesting, during the celebration of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, where the tradition of the people of Gresik Regency who usually consume milkfish as a menu for holiday dishes makes the price of milkfish high, it can reach 25 thousand/kg for a size of 300-350 grams/head. This moment is one of the best moments to sell milkfish from Gresik Regency," he said.
