Marine resources may be overfished<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Many marine resources across the world will be
\noverfished in the next decade, while many countries will apply
\nstricter trading rules on fishery imports, an executive of the
\nAssociation of Indonesian Fishing Companies (Gappindo) predicts.<\/p>\n
Bambang Suboko told a seminar here yesterday that Indonesian
\nfishing firms must anticipate these developments and improve
\ntheir operations if they wanted to survive in future.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's seminar, held to commemorate the 16th World Food
\nDay, was held jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture's
\nAgribusiness Agency and the State Ministry of Food.<\/p>\n
Bambang said that rapid developments in the world's fishing
\nindustry were causing overfishing, which depletes marine
\nresources.<\/p>\n
Catches of skipjack and yellowfin tuna fish, which are mainly
\nused in canning, have more than tripled in the last two decades,
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Chinese tuna-fishing ships have started entering the southern
\nPacific ocean and most have sold their catches to Japan at very
\nlow prices, he said.<\/p>\n
\"This has had a direct impact on countries like South Korea,
\nTaiwan, Indonesia and Thailand, which are major competitors in
\nthe field,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
In the next decade many fish-processing industries will move
\nto low-cost countries near marine resources, he said.<\/p>\n
Fresh and frozen fish will continue to dominated the fish-
\nprocessing industry. They made up 43.3 percent of the total
\nfishery trade in 1992, compared with 38.5 percent in 1982.<\/p>\n
Quotas<\/p>\n
Bambang warned that tariff wars were likely to continue with
\nimporting countries imposing more import quotas.<\/p>\n
\"About 18 percent of Japan's imports are based on quotas,\" he
\nsaid. Global import quotas are applied for cod, hake, yellow-
\ntails, mackerel, sardines, horse-mackerel, scallops and yellowfin
\ntuna.<\/p>\n
France, for example, imposes global quotas on imports of
\ncanned tuna and sardines, while Norway applies quotas for fresh
\nmackerel. Sweden imposes quotas for herring and cod.<\/p>\n
\"Quotas are restrictive trade barriers which exporters cannot
\npenetrate, no matter how efficiently and well they perform,\"
\nBambang said.<\/p>\n
Other restrictive measures that exporters must anticipate
\ninclude the United States' requirement that shrimp trawlers use
\nturtle-eliminating devices, and the European Union's Export
\nInspection Agency's quality controls.<\/p>\n
Bambang said shrimp would continue to be a prime commodity on
\nthe world market, particularly pond-farmed shrimp.<\/p>\n
Although Indonesia's shrimp production has been declining
\nsince 1992 because of disease, production in countries such as
\nBangladesh, Vietnam and India has increased.<\/p>\n
In the future, Bambang said, more countries would focus on
\nshrimp production.<\/p>\n
Bonar Pasaribu, a lecturer at the Bogor Agricultural
\nUniversity's School of Fisheries, said Indonesia could still
\nincrease its catch of skipjack tuna, groupers, shark and squids.<\/p>\n
\"But shrimp and tuna stocks are either fully or over-exploited
\nin Indonesia,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Currently, 2,127 fishing vessels with Indonesian flags operate
\nin the Mallaca Strait, South China Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Arafura
\nSea, Indian Ocean, Banda Sea and Java Sea.<\/p>\n
There are 945 fishing vessels with foreign flags operating in
\nthe South China Sea, Sulawesi Sea, Arafura Sea and Indian Ocean.
\n(pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/marine-resources-may-be-overfished-1447893297",
"image": ""
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