Fishery Ministries share best practices

The Minister of Fisheries and Marine resources, Bernhard Esau and the charge d’ affairs of the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia, Zainul Yunus, representing the Indonesian Ministry of Marine and Fisheries met this week in Windhoek to deliberate on how to uplift trade relations in aquaculture.
Yunus said the seminar served as a platform for the two ministries to share and learn best practices on fresh water aquaculture development as well as identify areas of cooperation in freshwater production and trade.
Recognising the value of aquaculture’s contribution to food security, income, employment creation and foreign exchange, Esau said although the cooperative member system of freshwater fish farming in the country has not worked well to date, the Ministry is now building on the strengths of the family unit and introducing the family pond system as a way to generate momentum in freshwater aquaculture development.
Yunus said aquaculture is an important component of Indonesian fisheries, which contributes to national food security as well as reduce the pressure on exploitation of marine natural resources.
“Recently, aquaculture development in Indonesia has accelerated and it is considered to be important in supporting rural economic development,” he said.
The identified possible areas of cooperation will look at the institutional development and capacity building, training and research.
The seminar was also held in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Namibia.
It also featured an exhibition on freshwater aquaculture development in Indonesia and Namibia as well as a presentation of how Indonesians process raw fish to value added food products.