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INTRODUCTION
THE GOVERNMENT OF INDONESIA (GOl) received technical assistance in brackishwater
aquaculture development from November 1976 to September 1978 through a contract
between the U.S. Agency for International Development and Auburn University's
International Center for Aquaculture. Contract AID/Asia-C-1177 provided funds
for resident advisors and equipment to the Directorate General of Fisheries
(DCF) for fish culture development and extension in northern Sumatra. The
authors served in Medan, North Sumatra (Bryan L. Duncan)2, and Banda Aceh,
Aceh (Michael C. Cremer), from November 1, 1976, to September 1, 1978, as
advisors to the Brackishwater Fishery Production Project (BFP).
Brackishwater pond culture has been practiced traditionally for centuries in Indonesia, particularly in Java. It was initiated at least 600 years ago as a mangrove swamp fishery using traps. Gradually, the mangrove was removed, dikes were constructed, water control structures were installed, and finally, the custom was established of stocking the ponds with milkfish and shrimp juveniles caught at sea.
In 1974, the DCF estimated that there were approximately 180,000 hectares
of brackishwater ponds in Indonesia, located mainly along the north coasts
of Java, South Sulawesi, and Sumatra. Production in these ponds had reached
a plateau with the use of traditional methods, and new and more productive
technology was not being adopted. During the Pelita I development program
(1969-74), the Government of Indonesia concentrated efforts to improve brackishwater
pond fisheries,
by using these two steps:
1. Adoption of new brackishwater methodology, using the vehicle of
a UNDP/FAO project at Jepara, Central Java, as a base of operations for field
trials.
2. Building of a staff base, through the use of local universities
and secondary schools, for extending improved technology to existing and potential
brackishwater fish farmers.
In 1974, as an expansion of the brackishwater development effort for Pelita
II (1974-79), the DGF chose Aceh and North Sumatra provinces to be the first
in a series of project sites where packages of resources would be brought
to bear in a concerted effort to increase small farmer income and brackishwater
fisheries production. The DGF requested USAID to appriase the idea, and in
November 1974 H. R. Schmittou3 conducted a survey of this area. He identified
a hiah ootential for aquaculture as a means to increase income, increase food
production, and expand employment. In May, June, and July 1975, a project
development team from the International Center for Aquaculture, USAID, and
the Government of Indonesia visited the area and drafted a detailed project
paper."* The next year
(1976) Auburn University's International Center for Aquaculture received a
2-year contract from USAID to assist the Government of Indonesia to increase
brackishwater (tambak) fisheries production in seven kabupatens (districts)
in the provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra and to create an infrastructure
base upon which tambak expansion could take place. Nine objectives were specified
for the project:
1. Fry resources evaluated and improved capture and distribution programs
instituted.
2. Fertilizer utilization by fish farmers increased.
3. Lending by COI Bank Rakyat for fish pond production and development
increased.
4. Provincial programs (demonstrations, training, and extension) made
operational with technical assistance.
5. Trained staff functioning with technology and methodology for intensification
outreach program.
6. Annual production from 4,800 hectares of existing tambaks doubled,
from approximately 500 kilograms to 1,000 kilograms per hectare per year.
7. New employment created for agricultural and fishery families.
8. Increased number and greater development roles achieved for local
producer associations.
9. GOI infrastructure in place and functional to handle remaining intensification
and projected expansion. This report outlines progress toward achieving these
objectives during the initial 2-year project.
_______________
'Respectively, Research Associate and Assistant Professor Department of Fisheries
and Allied Aquacultures, International Cente for Aquaculture.
'Dr. Duncan will remain in Indonesia for phase two of the project, an extension
of the North Sumatra subproject, until October 30, 1979, while Mr. Cremer
returned to Auburn University in September 1978.
'Resident advisor for the International Center for Aquaculture to thi USAID
snonsored Inland Fisheries Project in the Philinnines.