With more than 17,500 islands and 81,000 kilometers of coastline, Indonesia's (IDN) rich natural resources have made it one of the world's largest seafood fishing producers. In recent years, Indonesia's seafood exports have increased significantly, from 1.125 million tons in 2018 to 1.221 million tons in 2023, demonstrating the year-on-year rise in demand for Indonesian seafood in the international market.

Indonesia's fishery industry mainly consists of marine fishing and aquaculture, of which tuna and squid are the most important species caught. Indonesia's tuna catch perennially ranks among the top in the world, accounting for about 16% of the world's total tuna supply. However, due to overfishing, many of Indonesia's fishing grounds in the Pacific and Indian Oceans have been fully exploited, leading to sustainability issues for tuna resources.

In 2021, Indonesia caught and produced 790,000 tons of tuna, valued at about $1.5 billion. Exports of tuna-based seafood increased from 168,400 tons in 2018 to 203,200 tons in 2023, and the value of exports increased from US$714 million to US$927 million, showing a significant growth trend. However, in order to protect tuna resources, Indonesia has shifted the focus of wild fishing to cephalopod seafood such as squid in recent years.

Indonesia's squid fishing and processing industry is growing rapidly, with the main fishing areas concentrated in the waters of western Kalimantan and northern Java. in 2021, the squid catch in these areas reached 95,000 tons, accounting for 48% of Indonesia's total catch. Cephalopod seafood (squid, cuttlefish, octopus) is one of Indonesia's major export categories, and despite fluctuations in the intervening years, it has remained stable overall, with an export volume of 153,000 tons in 2023 and an export value of $762 million.

China is the largest customer for Indonesian seafood, importing a third of Indonesia's exported fish in recent years. The export volume grew from 365,000 tons in 2018 to 438,000 tons in 2023, an increase of 20.04 percent, while the export value grew from $675 million to $1.138 billion, an increase of 68.32 percent.

According to a combination of China Customs data and International Trade Center (ITC) data, Indonesia is a major importer of squid products from China. 83,200 tons of squid cuttlefish and other cephalopod seafood, valued at 2.515 billion yuan (about 350 million U.S. dollars), were exported from Indonesia to China in 2023, accounting for 26.51 percent of China's total imports. Fujian Province, an important processing base for China's squid industry, relies on squid from Indonesia as its main raw material.