The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) encourages the Southeast Sulawesi Regional Government to directly export seaweed products from Baubau considering the large production output of the region. KKP is ready to synergize with local governments and other policymakers to make this happen. Seaweed is an essential commodity in the waters of Baubau, Southeast Sulawesi. From January-August 2022, there is a frequency of 235 shipments of seaweed from Baubau to various regions before being exported to destination countries. “The total is 3,340 tons. Of course, this has potential and it would be very good if we could export directly (direct calls) to the destination country,” said Head of Baubau Fish Quarantine, Quality Control, and Fishery Product Safety (BKIPM) Yuni Irawati in the official KKP broadcast, Wednesday (14/9/2022). She revealed that the current reality is that Baubau seaweed that is sent to China or other countries is still sent to Surabaya or Makassar first. Therefore, she encourages synergy with local governments and policymakers so that direct exports can be carried out from Baubau.
On this occasion, Yuni added that with direct exports, Baubau could later be listed as a gelatin-producing area in Indonesia. From the BKIPM perspective, Yuni is committed to supporting export activities in terms of quality assurance so that the products released are of really high quality and correspond with the recipient country's requirements. “We as quality assurance officers are ready to make this program a success if it can be done. Especially in terms of minimizing export rejection from Baubau,” she explained. Last year, non-living fishery traffic including seaweed from Baubau reached 10,000 tons. The total value generated from this activity reached IDR 173 billion.
