Govt to combat illegal fishing

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

To help combat illegal fishing, the Maritime Affairs and Fishery Ministry will issue a revision of a 2006 ministry regulation on fisheries later this month, an official said.

Aji Soelarso, director general of the maritime resources surveillance and control division at the ministry, said Friday the revision was needed as the illegal practices had reached an alarming level and caused huge losses to the country.

"The revised ruling will prohibit foreign fishing vessels to operate in our waters if they do not have an industrial processing base in Indonesia," Aji told The Jakarta Post in an interview.

He said they could either establish their own industrial bases or cooperate with local companies in the form of a joint venture.

The 2006 regulation was initially aimed at revitalizing the country's fishery processing industry, but it did not require foreign vessels to have an industrial base here, he said.

The forthcoming revision will call for the revocation of the existing licenses of foreign fishing vessels if they fail to comply.

"With the revision, I expect it will not only create new jobs for local people, but also generate foreign exchange," Aji said.

No exact figure is available for the damage caused by illegal fishing, but previous ministry's reports estimated the country suffered over US$3 billion in losses per year.

In addition to the material loss, the practices have also caused damage to coral reefs as a result of the use of explosives.

"Indonesia is among the top eight countries in the world when it comes to fish stocks, higher than such neighbors as Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand," he said.

Lack of a surveillance fleet was another factor contributing to the high incidence of illegal fishing, he said.

Aji said there are currently more than 20,000 foreign vessels operating in Indonesian waters, both with and without licenses, "and we only have 20 vessels to patrol them all, and not all of (the patrol boats) are in good condition".

Last year, Indonesia and Australia joined forces to patrol the Arafura Sea, Aji said.

According to the ministry, the maritime and fishery sectors have great potential to contribute to the country's economy.

Gross domestic product from the fishery sector increased by 18 percent in 2006, and generated US$2.08 billion in foreign exchange revenue, with exports reaching 1.02 million tons in 2006. (ndr)