According to the Big Indonesian Dictionary (KBBI), export is the delivery of merchandise abroad. Exporting is sending merchandise abroad in order to increase the exporter's income and the country's gross income through the sale of certain commodities. Meanwhile, according to the KBBI, imports are the entry of goods and so on from abroad. Importing is the activity of entering merchandise and so on from abroad in order to meet the need for a certain item.
One of the commodities that can be exported or imported from abroad is Pangasius. Pangasius has now become a fishery commodity that is growing quite rapidly because the market is wide. The sale of Pangasius has been started in 1997 in Vietnam. Recorded in 1977 production only reached 22,000 tons and in 2006 increased to 800,000 tons. Fishery commodities such as Pangasius are processed into fishery products (final products) which can be grouped according to the handling and or processing process, including:
- live product.
- Fresh product (fresh product) through the process of testing (cooling).
- Frozen products, either raw or cooked through the freezing process.
- Canned products go through a high-temperature heating process (sterilization), and pasteurization.
- Dried products through natural or mechanical drying processes.
- Dry salted product (dried salted product) through the process of salting and drying naturally, or mechanically.
- Smoked products go through a smoking process.
- Fermented products through the fermentation process.
- Cooked products go through a cooking/steaming process.
- Surimi based product, through leaching or pressing process (minced).
However, to produce good quality pangasius fish that can be exported, it is necessary to implement good management and high standards. In addition, the condition of the fish when it is about to be exported must be healthy. The condition of fresh and healthy fish and suitable for export can be seen from the eyes of the fish, gills, smell and skin of the fish. The characteristics of high and low-quality fresh fish that are suitable for export or import are as follows:
Table 1. Quality of Pangasius fish
|
Parameter |
High-quality fresh fish |
Low-quality fish |
|
Eye |
Bright, protruding eyeballs, clear cornea |
Sunken eyeballs, milky white pupils, cloudy cornea |
|
Gill |
Brilliant red color, no slime |
Dull and slimy color |
|
Mucus |
The mucus layer is clear, transparent, shiny bright, no discoloration |
Mucus is yellowish to thick brown, the bright color is gone, the whitening is real |
|
Meat and stomach |
The cut of the flesh is very bright, the original color, no milking along the spine, the stomach is intact, the kidneys are bright red, the abdominal wall is intact, the smell is fresh in the stomach |
Dull cut flesh, clear red color along the spine, stomach wall dispersed, foul smell in the entrails |
|
Scent |
Fresh, specific smell according to the type of fish |
Bad odor |
|
Consistency |
Dense, elastic when pressed, difficult to tear the flesh from the spine |
Very soft, when pressed with a finger the marks don't go away, the flesh is easily torn from the spine. |
In order to penetrate the export market, exporters of Pangasuis commodities must meet several applicable requirements, including:
- Fresh white flesh.
- No mud smell.
- Healthy and fresh fish.
- Measuring more than 700 gram per head.
- And free of antibiotics.
