Fishermen in Manokwari Regency, West Papua, expect the local government to facilitate direct exports of tuna from the region to a number of countries abroad. The chairman of the Nusantara Fisherman Group Tuna Jaya La Hada in Manokwari, Thursday, said that the waters of Manokwari and its surroundings produce tuna of the highest quality that has high economic value in the international market. "The quality of tuna from Manokwari is one of the best. But unfortunately this cannot guarantee that fishermen in Manokwari can prosper because until now there has been no direct export of fish from Manokwari," said La Hada. According to him, so far the tuna caught by Manokwari fishermen are sold to collectors in Makassar, South Sulawesi. From the City of Angin Mamiri, he said, the best quality tuna from Papua was exported to various destination countries. "Because they cannot export directly from Manokwari, the Manokwari local government does not get local revenue. Even though the potential for tuna in the waters of Manokwari and its surroundings is very abundant," said La Hada. Currently, according to him, the sale of tuna in Manokwari is around IDR 65,000 per kilogram, while in other regions the price of yellowfin tuna can reach IDR 100,000 to IDR 120,000 per kilogram. If he is able to carry out direct export of tuna from Manokwari, La Hada believes that it will actually boost Manokwari Regency's PAD, as well as improve the welfare of local fishermen. "Fishermen cannot raise prices according to the national market, because the prices are set by collectors. What's worse, we have to sell them to collectors because they provide FAD facilities for fishermen," he explained.
La Hada hopes that the Manokwari Regency Government will empower fishermen by providing FADs, cold storage, ice factories and other supporting facilities so that the selling price of Manokwari tuna can be competitive. "I believe that the tuna commodity can be a superior commodity that Manokwari Regency can rely on, because Manokwari tuna is already very well known," said La Hada.

Source: https://www.antaranews.com/berita/3107273/nelayan-manokwari-ingin-ekspor-langsung-ikan-tuna-ke-luar-negeri