INALUM Cultivates Asahan "Jurung" God Fish Until 2025

Asahan, January 18th, 2023 - PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminum or INALUM until 2025 is committed to carrying out a Jurung fish cultivation program. INALUM took the initiative to collaborate with various parties to participate in preserving this fish which is local endemic to the Asahan River and is known as the "God Fish" by the Batak people in North Sumatra.

INALUM Corporate Secretary Mahyaruddin Ende said that this cultivation was carried out as a company step in supporting nature conservation in the Asahan River area. Moreover, according to him, Jurung fish is a fish that is respected in Batak culture and economically has good value as a fisheries commodity.

“The Jurung fish or Ihan Batak is a local endemic to the Asahan River. INALUM, which has been very dependent on the flow of the Asahan River (to drive turbines), took the initiative to participate in protecting one of the fauna of North Sumatra. "Moreover, economically, the Jurung Fish commodity is quite high in terms of price because there are quite a lot of people interested in it," said Mahyaruddin.

Jurung fish or the Latin name Neolissochilus sumatranus (Cyprinidae) is one of the endemic fish in North Sumatra with a habitat in the Asahan River. The existence of Jurung fish in the Asahan river is starting to be threatened due to the local community's habit of catching fish without breeding and using the Asahan river for the business interests of various companies. So to preserve the Asahan River Jurung fish, INALUM is collaborating with the Asahan District Fisheries Service and the Mutiara Sungai Asahan People's Hatchery Unit (UPR) to carry out cultivation efforts.

In the conservation process, there are three types of Jurung fish that are cultivated, namely Tor Soro, Tor Tambroides, and Tor Douronensis. Of the three types of fish, Tor Soro is the species that is currently being successfully cultivated by UPR Mutiara Sungai in Asahan September 2021 through semi-artificial spawning and producing 1,000 fish. By April 2023 the fish fry will be 7-10 cm in size.

In the fisheries market, Jurung fish is a commodity with attractive economic value. Having a fairly large size and quite delicious taste, Jurung fish is one of the fish that is part of the culinary menu of the Batak tribe in North Sumatra when carrying out traditional ceremonies. It is not surprising that this fish has a price that can be said to be quite high on the market, with the price for one kilogram reaching 1 million rupiah (alive) and 350 thousand rupiah when dead.

In the cultivation program, INALUM carried out the program from 2021 to 2025. For five years INALUM carried out 7 main programs, namely Spawning, Laboratory Development, Pond Construction (such as the natural conditions of the Asahan River), Parent Care, Wild Release, and Certification and Sales Assistance. It is hoped that with these seven programs, the Jurung Fish can be present in more numbers in the Asahan River and can bring the Jurung Fish which is the pride of North Sumatra and Indonesia to swim in the international market.