A coral export facility sits idle in Bali, Indonesia. Image via OFI.
via Ornamental Fish International (OFI)
Indonesian Coral Export Suspension Update
The coral export suspension continues in Indonesia despite ongoing lobbying by industry. The industry has been devastated by this ongoing suspension with over 10,000 jobs lost in the Indonesian industry, as well as revenue losses of more than USD$12 million. More importantly, all the coral reef restoration work that the farmers carried out has now stopped—10% of their production is used to directly restore coral reef but without an income this work has now stopped.
There is hope that a case before the ombudsman could put an end to the suspension and there was a meeting scheduled this week for the ombudsmen case, however, key participants (namely the relevant Ministers) were not available resulting in the decision being delayed again. While the industry is confident the export suspension will finish, it is increasingly looking like this will not happen until after the elections to be held in April this year.
We hope that the suspension ends soon so collectors, farmers, and exporters can get back to work—it is so sad to see empty facilities like this one in Bali!
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Editor’s Note: The stoppage of coral exportation from Indonesia came as a surprise on May 4th, 2018, and has continued for 330 days as of March 29th, 2019.
