Coastal communities urged to venture into mud crab cultivation

JAKARTA: Coastal communities should venture into mud crab cultivation, given its economic potentials, suggested the Villages, Disadvantaged Areas and Transmigration ministry.

Technology Coordinator at the Village Competitiveness Development Centre under the ministry, Sumarwoto, said mangrove crab is a fishery commodity that has the potential to be cultivated,” Sumarwoto said during a webinar titled “Appropriate Technology of Crab Ball Increase Mangrove Crab Production,” here.

According to reports in Antara new, he said the value of global demand for crabs reached USD5.4 billion in 2020, while Indonesia’s crab exports only reached USD367.5 million, or 6.8 percent of the demand.

“In 2021, the export value of mangrove crabs has increased, this shows that the crab market is still open and growing,” he said and noted there are four species of mangrove crabs with commercial value globally.

In Indonesia, there are two types of crabs that have commercial value, Sumarwoto said, adding that mangrove crabs are found in brackish waters where lots of mangrove plants grow.

“Mangrove crab is very much favoured by the public considering its delicious taste with its nutrition that is (at the same level) with other crustaceans, such as shrimps,” he said.

However, the cultivation technique using “crab ball” technology has not been used much, he added.

Head of the ministry’s Information and Development Agency, Ivanovich Agusta, urged village assistants and activists in coastal areas to utilise the appropriate crab ball technology to increase mangrove crab production.

“Mangrove crab is one type of potential commodity. There are more than 10 thousand villages that have coasts throughout Indonesia, out of 74,961 villages,” Agusta said.

NST