Indonesians on fishing trip for ideas from the Clarence

INDONESIA is looking to boost its fishing and tourism industries and is looking to the Clarence Valley and the NSW North Coast for inspiration.

This week a group of fisheries experts from Ambon in the province of Maluku has been touring the Valley looking at aquaculture and wild fisheries operations in the region.

They've also taken in the sights of Byron Bay, on a purely professional basis to see how it works as a tourism destination.

The tour is a part of a reciprocal program Southern Cross University has with similar organisations in Indonesia who are sharing research facilities.

Professor Steve Smith, from the National Marine Science Centre in Coffs Harbour, has led the tour which has looked over fishing operations, which yesterday took in commercial operations in the Clarence River as well as a tour of NSW DPI Fisheries Research Station at Trenayr.

Prof Smith said developing both fishing and tourism was vital to the Indonesian economy, which sourced more than 20 per cent of its protein from the sea.

"That's massive, when you consider the majority of their fishery is wild caught,” he said.

One visitor, Professor Eugene Ranjaan, said the Indonesian Government planned to turn the provinces of Malaku and Northern Malaku on the eastern edge of the country, into its source of seafood.

"Malaku will be asked to supply the whole of Indonesia with seafood,” Prof Ranjaan said.

He said this would require development of mariculture - marine aquaculture - and the knowledge from the world leading experts in the field at SCU was vital in this field.

Proj Ranjaan said the Indonesians were keen to open up more areas to tourism in the way Bali had become a tourism hotspot for Australians.

"Having visited Maluku and stayed with Eugene, I can say it is one of the most beautiful and unspoilt places you could find,” Prof Smith said.