THE HISTORY OF AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY

Cultivated fishery is the activity of fish rearing for consumption purpose. Recorded by FAO since 1950, this industry initially had very little output compared to captured fishery industry. However, as time goes by, aquaculture industry grows rapidly. The fastest growth occurred in 1990 along with the stagnation of captured fishery industry, and was named by FAO as the fastest growing food industry in the world. In 2015, the global cultivated fishery production reached +/- 90 million tons, thus rivalling the captured fishery industry.

GLOBAL AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY PRODUCTION

In 2015, aquaculture industry production was dominated by the Asian Continent with a total production of +/- 81 million tons, which was 90% of the global production. China dominated with a total production of +/- 47.6 million tons (53% of the global production), followed by India with a total production of +/- 4.9 million tons, then by 3 largest producers in Southeast Asia; Indonesia with a total production of +/- 4.3 million tons, Vietnam with a total production of +/- 3.4 million tons, and Philippines with a total production of +/- 2.3 million tons. (*excluding seaweeds) Southeast Asia contributed to +/- 11.2 million tons of cultivated fish or 12.4% of global production.

AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY IN INDONESIA

In 2015, Indonesia produced +/- 4.3 million tons of cultivated fish which consisted of +/- 2.9 million tons freshwater fish, 1.3 million tons seawater fish, and 0.1 million tons brackish water fish. The freshwater fish commonly cultivated in Indonesia includes common carp, tilapia, catfish, basa fish, pomfret, and gourami. Meanwhile, the saltwater fish commodity commonly cultivated in Indonesia includes humpback grouper, brown-marbled grouper, white snapper, red snapper, rabbitfish, white pomfret, milkfish, and even yellow-fin tuna. Generally, saltwater fish commodity has higher selling price compared to freshwater fish, and higher nutritional content such as DHA and Omega 3.
Cultivated fish are reared in a facility known as floating marine cages. Most of the floating marine cages used in Indonesia are made of wood. Wood floating marine cage has negative impact on the environment, the fish, and the business due to deforestation, bacteria growth within the wood fibers which creates diseases, and the poor resistance against ocean waves. Along with the increasing awareness of the importance of protecting the environment, as well as the increasing need of a high quality and environmentally friendly floating marine cage that can withstand the waves, many cultivators have now switched to High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) floating marine cages.

VARIOUS HDPE FLOATING MARINE CAGES

Rectangular Floating Marine Cage (for coastal seas)
With a size of 3m x 3m or 4m x 4m, the rectangular HDPE floating marine cage is generally used to rear various grouper commodities such as the humpback grouper, brown-marbled grouper, leopard coral grouper, and various hybrid groupers such as cantang, cantik, batik and kertang grouper. This is due to the grouper’s nature to dwell on the ocean floor. When this nature is expressed to the cage, the groupers tend to like the cage’s net walls and gather on the corners of the nets. Therefore, the most suitable floating marine cage shape for groupers is the rectangular floating marine cage. The HDPE rectangular floating marine cage can be installed in oceans with waves height of up to 2m. The cage’s durability is above 25 years.

Specifications:
– Floating device OD 355mm
– Floating device thickness 11-12.5mm

Octagonal Floating Marine Cage (for semi-offshore seas)
With a diameter between 6m to 10m, the octagonal HDPE floating marine cage has relatively large water volume and is commonly used to rear swimmer fish such as the white snapper, red snapper, rabbitfish, white pomfret, and milkfish, or as a step towards the next rearing stage in a larger floating marine cage. The octagonal HDPE floating marine cage can be installed in seas with waves up to 2.5m high. The durability exceeds 25 years.

Specifications:
– Floating device OD 355mm
– Floating device thickness 11-12.5mm

Round Floating Marine Cage (for offshore seas)
With a diameter between 10m to 60m, the round HDPE floating marine cage has very large water volume and is suitable to rear swimmer fish such as white snapper, red snapper, rabbitfish, white pomfret, milkfish, and even yellowfin tuna and bluefin tuna. The round HDPE floating marine cage can be installed in offshore seas with 4m wave height. The cage’s durability is above 25 years.

Initially manufactured by Aquatec, the current largest HDPE round floating marine cage in Southeast Asia is a 50-meter diameter round cage used to rear yellowtail tuna in Gondol, Bali.

Specifications:
Diameter: 20 meter
– Floating device OD: 315mm
– Floating device thickness: 18.5mm
Diameter: 25 meter
– Floating device OD: 355mm
– Floating device thickness: 21mm
Diameter: 31.5 meter
– Floating device OD: 400mm
– Floating device thickness: 25mm
Diameter: 37.5 meter
– Floating device OD: 450mm
– Floating device thickness: 28mm

Submersible Offshore Floating Marine Cage (for offshore seas with typhoon storm)
The submersible offshore floating marine cage is a round floating marine cage with offshore classification and high technology which can be submerged underwater to avoid typhoon storm, and can be refloated after the storm subsides. Aside from avoiding the typhoon storm, submersible offshore floating marine cage can also be used to evade plankton booming / red tide, and fish theft. This is suitable for the rearing of swimmer fish such as white snapper, red snapper, rabbitfish, white pomfret, milkfish, and even yellowfin and bluefin tuna.

The submersible offshore floating marine cage was manufactured for the first time in Southeast Asia by Aquatec, and has been installed in Situbondo – East Java and Hainan – China. Currently, Aquatec submersible offshore floating marine cage is the fastest submersible floating marine cage in the world in terms of its operation, with submersion speed which requires only 5 minutes, and the refloating speed which takes 10 minutes. In submersion state, Aquatec submersible offshore floating marine cage can withstand a typhoon storm with waves reaching up to 9 meters high. Its durability is above 25 years.

TYPES OF FISH CULTIVATION NETS

Knotless HDPE Fish Cultivation Net

Few years ago, fish cultivation in traditional cages used nets with knots. This is not recommended since the knotted nets can wound the fish and cause high mortality rate as well as scale defects in the cultivated fish.

The knotless HDPE fish cultivation nets is a Japanese standard fish cultivation net, where the nets are knotless, thus having smooth and soft surface. Therefore, the fish can be reared within the cage without any risk of being wounded, hence decreasing mortality rate, improving survival rate, and increasing the fish’ selling power thanks to their perfect scales. With affordable price and 5-10 years durability, the knotless HDPE fish cultivation net is highly recommended for fish cultivation since it reduces the risk of fish mortality in cultivation businesses.

Steel-like Knotless UHMWPE Fish Cultivation Nets (anti-predator cultivation nets)
The knotless UHMWPE fish cultivation net is a new breakthrough in fish cultivation. The knotless UHMWPE fish cultivation net is a knotless cultivation net made of UHMWPE. UHMWPE or Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, is a material stronger than steel. By using this material, the knotless UHMWPE fish cultivation nets have the strength of steel, thus resistant to various ocean predators such as barracudas, puffer fish, pomfrets, turtles, crabs, and even sharks of certain sizes. It is suitable for fish cultivation in areas with high population of predators. The durability of UHMWPE net is higher than HDPE net, with a lifetime between 8-15 years.

AQUATEC

PT. Gani Arta Dwitunggal is the pioneer and the largest manufacturer of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) floating marine cages, as well as the knotless HDPE and UHMWPE cultivation nets in Southeast Asia with the brand Aquatec. Until 2018, Aquatec has sold 15,750 plots of floating marine cages in Indonesia and exported HDPE cages to Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, China, Taiwan, Maldives, and Ghana. Aquatec also supplies supporting products for fish cultivation activities such as floating docks, floating houses, and anti-drowning boats.

Source:
repository.seafdec.org
www.fao.org
www.worldatlas.com