MARITIMEPOSTS.COM – Indonesia is not merely facing an issue of shrimp imports. Behind the growing flow of foreign shrimp lies a far more serious question: is Indonesia opening the door to biosecurity risks, price pressures, and the destruction of an aquaculture industry that supports millions of livelihoods along the national shrimp value chain?
As of August 2026, Indonesia’s aquaculture industry may appear relatively calm on the surface. Ponds continue to operate, shrimp are still being harvested, and trade continues. Yet warnings from marine experts point to issues that deserve serious attention before they develop into an industrial crisis that becomes difficult to reverse.
For decades, shrimp has been one of the most important commodities in Indonesia’s blue economy. It does not merely generate foreign exchange through exports; it also drives a long economic chain involving hatcheries, feed producers, farmers, processors, transportation, cold storage, traders, and exporters.
For that reason, the issue of imported shrimp should not be viewed solely through the lens of trade. It also involves economic security, food safety, environmental protection, biosecurity, production sustainability, and Indonesia’s reputation as a major producer of aquatic food products.
Rejected Shrimp: When Products Refused by Other Countries Enter Indonesia
One of the concerns that has emerged involves the alleged entry of shrimp from Ecuador that had previously been rejected by Chinese authorities after being detected with prohibited substances. This information deserves attention because products rejected in one market may potentially find alternative markets in countries with different inspection and enforcement systems.
The concern was raised by Darwis Ismail, Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Marine Science Graduates (Iskindo) and Chairman of the Association of Marine Science Graduates (ISLA) at Hasanuddin University. He warned that Indonesia must be careful not to become the final destination for seafood products rejected by other countries.
The problem does not end with the possibility of problematic products entering the domestic market. If products that fail to meet requirements in one country subsequently enter Indonesia and are then processed or re-exported, the consequences could extend to Indonesia’s national reputation.
Indonesia could bear the risk if a destination country later discovers problems with products that have been processed or circulated through Indonesian supply chains. In global food trade, reputation is an expensive asset to build but can be severely damaged by a single serious incident.
Therefore, any information concerning imported shrimp rejected by another country must be rigorously verified by the relevant authorities. Product origin, health certificates, prohibited substances, traceability, and the reasons for rejection should all form part of a robust inspection system.
Not Just a Price Competition, but a Biosecurity Issue
There is another issue that may be even more fundamental: shrimp is not simply a traded commodity. In aquaculture systems, the movement of aquatic products and organisms always carries a biosecurity dimension that must be carefully considered.
Shrimp diseases have become a major concern for the global aquaculture industry. Pathogens can cause mass mortality, disrupt production, increase farming costs, and, under certain circumstances, generate enormous economic losses.
For this reason, the possibility of disease agents moving through trade networks must be clearly distinguished from allegations of biological sabotage. Not every imported product is necessarily a biological threat, and it would be inappropriate to conclude that sabotage has occurred without scientific evidence and an official investigation.
Nevertheless, potential biosecurity risks must be taken seriously. The precautionary principle is important because the cost of prevention is generally far lower than the cost of recovery once a disease has spread across farming areas.
If disease strikes major shrimp-farming centers, the problem is not limited to the loss of a single production cycle. The impact can spread to hatcheries, feed manufacturers, farmers, workers, processors, traders, logistics providers, and export businesses.
In other words, biosecurity is the foundation of the shrimp industry. When that foundation becomes fragile, a trade issue can quickly become a national production crisis.
When Imported Prices Put Pressure on Local Farmers
Imports also have an important economic dimension. Shrimp farmers need prices that allow them to cover production costs, pay workers, purchase feed, maintain water quality, manage ponds, and prepare capital for the next production cycle.
When the domestic market is flooded with lower-priced products, local farmers may face increasingly severe price pressure. The situation becomes dangerous when selling prices are no longer sufficient to cover production costs.
Farmers who repeatedly suffer losses may reduce stocking densities, postpone production cycles, cut investment in biosecurity, or abandon shrimp farming altogether. When this happens on a large scale, national production capacity is weakened.
This is where imports become a structural issue. The industry does not simply lose individual farmers; it risks losing an entire business ecosystem that has taken decades to develop from upstream production to downstream processing.
A Threat to the Industry’s Value Chain
The shrimp industry functions like a chain. When one link weakens, the others are affected.
Upstream, hatcheries and feed producers depend on the continued operation of shrimp farms. At the production level, farmers directly bear the risks associated with prices, disease, weather, and production costs.
Downstream, processors, distributors, suppliers, transportation companies, cold-storage facilities, exporters, and numerous service businesses depend on a continuous supply of domestically produced shrimp.
If domestic production permanently weakens, Indonesia’s ability to control its own supply chain will also decline. Dependence on foreign products and inputs could increase, while rebuilding domestic production capacity would take considerable time.
This is why the estimated one million workers whose livelihoods depend on the shrimp and pond sectors should be understood as a social and economic issue, not merely as a labor statistic.
Behind that figure are families, hatchery workers, pond laborers, seafood processors, drivers, cold-storage workers, traders, feed suppliers, and small businesses operating around shrimp-farming communities.
The Government Cannot Simply Stand by
This issue requires a government response based on data, science, and the precautionary principle. Calls to stop or tighten shrimp imports should be placed within a clear policy framework rather than treated merely as a reaction to market pressure.
The government must ensure that every imported shrimp product meets all applicable requirements concerning food safety, aquatic animal health, biosecurity, traceability, and trade regulations. Products previously rejected by other countries should also undergo adequate verification and inspection before entering the Indonesian market.
At the same time, protecting domestic farmers cannot rely solely on import restrictions. The government must strengthen productivity, production efficiency, access to financing, farming technology, seed quality, feed, disease management, pond infrastructure, and market access for domestic producers.
With such an approach, industry protection does not have to become protectionism that burdens consumers. Instead, policy should ensure that the national industry can compete through productivity, quality, safety, and efficiency.
Protecting Shrimp, Protecting Indonesia’s Blue Economy
A shrimp-industry crisis does not necessarily arrive in a dramatic form. It can begin with price pressure, declining production, increasing disease outbreaks, reduced investment, abandoned ponds, weakened hatcheries, and declining market confidence.
If these problems are allowed to continue, the damage can unfold gradually until it becomes apparent only after national industrial capacity has already been significantly weakened.
The shrimp import issue must therefore be placed within a broader conversation about food sovereignty, biosecurity, industrial competitiveness, farmer protection, and the future of Indonesia’s blue economy.
Indonesia must ensure that its doors to international trade remain open, but those doors must not become entry points for products that threaten food safety, biosecurity, export reputation, or the sustainability of domestic industries.
The final question is simple, but the consequences are enormous: Does Indonesia want to remain a strong and sovereign shrimp-producing nation, or does it want to become a market for products that other countries no longer want?
The answer will determine not only the future of Indonesia’s shrimp ponds, but also the fate of the economic value chain that sustains coastal communities across the country.
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Written by M. Rusman Madjulekka
