Jakarta. Indonesia's tuna exports reached $374 million between January and May 2024, marking a 4.3 percent increase compared to $359 million in the same period in 2023.

The share of tuna in total national fishery exports also grew from 16 percent in January-May 2023 to 16.4 percent in the same period this year.

"Both the value and share trends are rising, indicating that tuna has the potential to continue increasing in exports," said Machmud, Secretary of the Directorate General of Marine and Fishery Products Competitiveness at the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (PDSPKP KKP), during a press conference for the Road to Indonesia Tuna Investment and Business Forum on Thursday.

According to Machmud, Indonesia's tuna exports amounted to $960 million in 2022 but slightly declined to $927 million in 2023.

Ridwan Mulyana, Director of Fish Resource Management at the Ministry, added that Indonesia's tuna production is primarily from capture activities. With a sea area of 6.4 million square kilometers, Indonesia has abundant tuna fishery resources, as reflected in national production trends. The tuna group generally includes tuna, skipjack, and mackerel tuna.

"The average tuna production in Indonesia is 1.49 million tons per year. Indonesia's production share is 18 percent of the world's tuna production, which is around 8.3 million tons per year. This is remarkable. Meanwhile, from an export perspective, around 194,700 tons per year contribute significantly to the value, amounting to $960 million in 2022," explained Ridwan.