by Fajrina Nissa

After Better Management Practice (BMP) of Giant Tiger Prawn Aquaculture, Unfed and Non-Aerated Ponds Systems being adopted by Bulungan Regency (North Kalimantan) and Aceh, WWF-Indonesia is now trying to expand the BMP adoption to Tarakan. According to the cooperation agreement, signed on July 2012, Fisheries Office (DKP) of Tarakan Regency and City Government of Tarakan are committed to fully support the implementation of BMP, and grant permission for WWF-Indonesia to conduct a pilot project in one of the shrimp farms located in Tarakan.
H. Muhidin, the leader of a farm group named “Tambak Mandiri” owns a ± 4.6 Ha pond. His farm began operating on September 2012. This shrimp farm is then chosen to be the pilot project site for BMP implementation in Tarakan. WWF-Indonesia also recruited some local facilitators, who would be responsible for monitoring the farm and conducting aquaculture activities, started from broodstocking to harvesting. In addition, WWF-Indonesia also planted mangroves around the shrimp pond serving as foraging site for aquatic organisms on tidal areas.
By adopting the BMP of Giant Tiger Prawn Aquaculture, the farm should adhere to the rules stated on the BMP such as the selection and stocking of postlarvae or broodstock, where the postlarvae or broodstock should be free from diseases. Fry taken from PT MMA hatchery however are proved to be disease-free. The local facilitators should regularly control the water quality. During the pilot project period, the shrimp had been harvested twice, but the two productions were not successful due to white spot disease outbreak. The disease outbreak was identified through the laboratory test conducted at Tarakan Fisheries Office.
Strengthening the commitment
Learning from the past failure, WWF-Indonesia is conducting thorough evaluation of the farming activities. The third production cycle is currently ongoing, and the fry are about a month old. It is about 60 days away from the harvesting. The local facilitators are working so hard to prevent the white spot disease outbreak from happening again by regularly controlling the water quality around the pond, strictly monitoring the intake and discharge of water, since the disease is believed to be spread form water, and increasing the compliance with the Tiger Shrimp Prawn Aquaculture BMP. The commitments of Fisheries Office and WWF-Indonesia to implement responsible and environmentally friendly aquaculture should continuously be strengthened and realized through some efforts such as improving the pond construction and the capacity of local facilitators assigned to perform farming activities on pilot project site.