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Understanding the Slow Growth in Indonesia’s Fishery Sector

Indonesia, with its vast marine resources and long coastline, is often hailed as one of the world’s top fish-producing countries. Yet, from 2019 to 2023, the Indonesia’s fishery sector recorded a sluggish CAGR of just 0.5%, revealing a concerning stagnation.

Map of Indonesia in 2023, visualizing Indonesia’s Fishery Sector and fish production by region, with varying shades of blue indicating production levels in million tons.

Current Status of Indonesia’s Fishery Sector

This underwhelming growth affects both pillars of the industry: aquaculture and capture fisheries. Surprisingly, aquaculture—despite contributing 66.3% of total production—experienced a slight decline, with a CAGR of -0.1%. Meanwhile, capture fisheries, contributing 33.6%, grew more steadily at 1.7% CAGR.

This sluggish 0.5% growth is surprising for a nation so well-positioned to dominate global fish markets. The reasons are complex: overfishing in capture fisheries, disease and inefficiency in aquaculture, outdated equipment, and environmental degradation all play a role.

Several factors further explain this stagnancy in Indonesia’s fishery sector. Climate change has impacted marine biodiversity and productivity. Overfishing, as mentioned, and unsustainable practices have further depleted natural stocks. In aquaculture, challenges like disease outbreaks, limited access to quality feed and seed, and poor farm management hinder growth.

Additionally, infrastructure gaps, limited cold storage, and inadequate supply chain logistics constrain fishery productivity across many provinces.

To reverse this trend, a multifaceted approach is needed. This includes investing in sustainable practices, upgrading technology for smart aquaculture, expanding cold chain infrastructure, and offering better support to small-scale fishers and farmers.

Without intervention, Indonesia’s fishery sector risks falling short of its potential in the blue economy, which is an opportunity it cannot afford to miss.

Anisya Rahel Kristiana | Central Insight

Anisya is a Business Analyst at Central Insight. She has experiences in Business Consulting with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. She has strong professional consulting skills and has done some projects with Central Insight since she was an intern. She has delivered valuable insights to businesses across a range of industries, including financial, e-commerce, agro-products, medical equipment, engineering consulting, food and beverages processing solution, social networking service, entertainment, streaming service, digital technology, energy, chemical and more. She also provides support in gathering of all relevant data, interview sources and assists in developing proposals and reports in numerous projects. Anisya holds Communication Bachelor’s Degree focused in Public Relation from Mercu Buana University, Indonesia.

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    Anisya Rahel Kristiana
    Anisya Rahel Kristiana
    Anisya is a Business Analyst at Central Insight. She has experiences in Business Consulting with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. She has strong professional consulting skills and has done some projects with Central Insight since she was an intern. She has delivered valuable insights to businesses across a range of industries, including financial, e-commerce, agro-products, medical equipment, engineering consulting, food and beverages processing solution, social networking service, entertainment, streaming service, digital technology, energy, chemical and more. She also provides support in gathering of all relevant data, interview sources and assists in developing proposals and reports in numerous projects. Anisya holds Communication Bachelor’s Degree focused in Public Relation from Mercu Buana University, Indonesia.