Fishing reform not contradictory<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government has dismissed critics alleging
\nthe recent deregulation in the fisheries sector as contradictory
\nto earlier rulings.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Agriculture yesterday said the deregulation,
\nwhich, among other things, allowed the importation of fish and
\nshrimp trawlers, did not contradict Presidential Decree No.
\n39\/1980 which banned the operation of trawlers in territorial
\nwaters.<\/p>\n
According to the ministry, earlier rulings on the operation of
\ntrawlers, which also include Presidential Decree No. 85\/1982 and
\nMinisterial Decree No. 930\/1982, specifically determine the
\nfishing grounds for trawlers.<\/p>\n
\"The 1982 rulings, which are a follow-up of the 1980
\nPresidential Decree, state that shrimp trawlers may only be
\noperated in the waters of the Kei, Tanimbar, Irian Jaya and
\nArafura islands, or east of 130 degrees east latitude, except
\nwhere the ocean exceeds a depth of 10 meters,\" said a ministry
\nstatement signed by spokesman Bambang Subiantoro.<\/p>\n
The 1982 Ministerial Decree also stipulates that permission to
\noperate trawlers in these waters only be given to foreign,
\ndomestic and private firms and cooperatives which already have
\nfishing licenses. Fishing licenses are issued by the directorate
\ngeneral of fisheries.<\/p>\n
The ministry added that a 1982 decree issued by the director
\ngeneral of fisheries also stipulates that shrimp trawlers that
\nare to be operated in Indonesian waters must be equipped with
\nfish segregation devices.<\/p>\n
\"Therefore there is no contradiction between the recent
\nderegulation -- Ministerial Decree No. 508\/1996 -- and the
\nearlier Presidential Decree No. 39\/1980,\" the ministry said.<\/p>\n
The government's announcement yesterday came in response to
\nquestions over the consistency of the government's policy on the
\noperation of trawlers in Indonesia's territorial waters.<\/p>\n
In Ministerial Decree No. 508\/1996, signed by the minister of
\nagriculture on July 4, the government officially allows
\nIndonesian fishing companies to import, albeit on a limited
\nbasis, new steel long-liners weighing 100 gross tons to 350 gross
\ntons (GT), tuna and skipjack purse seiners of 100 GT to 800 GT,
\nfish and shrimp trawlers, bouke ami and squid-jiggers of 100GT
\nand 300 GT, and fish-lading vessels of over 100 GT.<\/p>\n
But academicians and observers questioned the decree, saying
\nthat the operation of trawlers, particularly in west Indonesian
\nwaters, could endanger the subsistence of small-scale fishermen,
\nwhose fishing ground overlaps with that of the trawlers.<\/p>\n
Observers said the fishermen must be protected as they would
\nnot be able to survive competition with large-scale, modern
\nequipment and fishing fleets which are mostly incapable of
\nselective fishing. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fishing-reform-not-contradictory-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}