Potential Of Circular Economy In Aquaculture
Indonesia is an archipelagic country and has a wide sea. The circular economy in the marine sector with aquaculture has great potential for us to develop. Don’t let the great potential of marine resources go unutilized and instead be damaged because the old business model is still rampant.
Huge Potential in the Indonesian Ocean
Indonesia has around 17,500 islands and has a coastline of 81,000 km. Interestingly, 62% of Indonesia’s territory is ocean. The natural wealth in the Indonesian seas does not only lie in the beauty of the seas, but the abundance of Indonesian marine products is also very large. Among them are fish, seaweed, clams, sea cucumbers, crabs, lobsters, squid, octopus and cuttlefish. In addition, every year the value of Indonesia’s fishery exports is always increasing.
Problems in the Indonesian Ocean
Even though there are so many problems in the Indonesian seas. The first comes from marine pollution originating from oil spills, marine debris, dumping, industrial waste pollution, and mine-laden ship accidents. Apart from that, many Indonesian people still practice destructive fishing, namely killing fish in unnatural ways (cyanide, bombs and electrocution) in order to get more results. Though it can damage the surrounding ecosystem.
Circular Economy Potential in Aquaculture
Communities in Indonesia, especially fishermen, may still have a low level of welfare. Therefore, they try to take and catch as many fish as possible so they can get a profit. Even though the value of the product from their fish catch can be of high value if they can process it. We can even process the waste from marine products into various high-value by-products. One way to manage marine products is with Aquaculture. Aquaculture is the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, algae, and other organisms in all types of water environments. Therefore, some circular economy solutions to the sea with the following aquaculture systems might be alternative solutions to problems in Indonesia.
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Human food ingredients
Waste from marine products in aquaculture can be extracted into various food additives. For example, we can use fresh fish waste as broth, aroma, or fish protein concentrate. Furthermore, we can use marine animals that have shells to produce chitosan. Chitosan is very useful for nutritional supplements for humans. In addition, many fish wastes in Indonesia contain protein and collagen which are very important for the body. Thus, in addition to the main products that we can eat, other marine waste products can still be utilized by humans.
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Animal feeding
Waste from marine products is usually thrown away. Though the waste often has a high nutritional content. So, if the waste is no longer suitable for humans, we can use it for animal feed. For example, the bones, heads, or skin from fish waste have a very high protein content for animal feed. With this, the use of waste products can reduce production costs and reduce the impact on the environment.
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Agriculture
Indonesia has a lot of agricultural land and we often call it an agricultural country. We can use this marine product waste to make organic fertilizer that is rich in nutrients. The waste can come from a mixture of several wastes such as fish waste, seaweed, and pine bark. This organic compost has high levels of macronutrients and does not contain toxins. In addition, sea shells have shells that contain calcium carbonate. Calcium is great for neutralizing acidic soil and increasing soil fertility.
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Industrial uses (food packaging, cosmetic and pharmaceutical)
Utilization of marine product in aquaculture waste can also be used as an industrial material. Many industries require organic materials, such as the food packaging, cosmetics and medicine industries. Collagen can be useful for treating osteoporosis, arthritis, and also for anti-aging ingredients. In addition, we can also use chitosan and gelatin as biodegradable packaging that is environmentally friendly. In addition, we can use beta-carotene and astaxanthin which come from salmon, trout, krill, and shrimps, and clam shells as antioxidants, stimulate the immune system, prevent diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
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Biodiesel
Circular economy emphasizes the sustainable use of energy. So, marine products in aquaculture that are not processed into organic matter can be used as environmentally friendly fuel. Biodiesel fuel oil can come from skin, bone, or liver waste. In addition, waste oil or lipids can be reprocessed into biodiesel.
Conclusion
Thus tips can know various ways to implement circular economy in aquaculture to increase the value of existing marine products. However, of course fishermen need help from various parties to be able to implement a circular economy in order to manage the results and waste of marine products they get. There needs to be good cooperation from the government, researchers and practitioners so that current ideas and findings can be implemented in the future.