Protecting Indonesia's vital marine resources<\/p>\n
Mark Erdmann, Contributor, Manado, North Sulawesi<\/p>\n
In recognition of the importance of Indonesia's vast marine
\nresources to its future, I've been invited to write an
\nEnvironment Day perspective on the current status of marine law
\nenforcement.<\/p>\n
Reflecting upon the last 10 years in Indonesian coastal
\nmanagement, I believe there is reason for cautious optimism, yet
\na tremendous amount of improvement is still needed in this field.<\/p>\n
Much as the country's policymakers have belatedly realized the
\nimportance of enforcement against illegal logging to protect
\nstate assets and prevent ecological and human tragedies caused by
\nrampant deforestation, illegal exploitation of marine resources
\nis finally beginning to receive attention as well.<\/p>\n
Over the past decade, the hard work by local and international
\nconservation NGOs and a range of donor-funded coastal management
\nprojects have succeeded in broadly exposing the damage wrought by
\ndestructive fishing practices such as blast and cyanide fishing
\n-- to the point that these practices are now widely recognized as
\nillegal by most fishing communities.<\/p>\n
In some of the best-known protected marine areas, including
\nthe Komodo, Wakatobi and Bunaken national parks, strong
\nenforcement systems have largely curtailed these destructive
\npractices. Moreover, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and
\nFisheries has prioritized enforcement against illegal,
\nunregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing, resulting in a dramatic
\nincrease over the past several years in the arrests of foreign
\nvessels poaching in Indonesian waters.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, these bright spots are overshadowed by a range
\nof problems that continue to hamper local marine enforcement.<\/p>\n
Many in the country's legal system, from police officers to
\nthe judiciary, seem to regard marine resource crimes as
\nunimportant, and even when offenders are captured, they are often
\nreleased within hours with nothing more than a reprimand.<\/p>\n
Ironically, many local environmental NGOs blindly champion the
\n\"rights\" of blast and cyanide fishers, seemingly oblivious to the
\nrights of the 99 percent of the Indonesian traditional fishermen,
\nwhose livelihoods are destroyed by the destructive and lucrative
\nactivities of a tiny minority. These NGOs are also often harshly
\ncritical of any attempts to enforce law and order on Indonesia's
\nextensive, but highly threatened, reefs.<\/p>\n
These problems and resistance to stronger marine enforcement
\nseem to stem from continuing misperceptions regarding marine
\nresource crimes -- perhaps in part because the majority of the
\npopulation does not see what is occurring beneath the waves on a
\ndaily basis. Below, I address four of the most egregious of these
\nmisperceptions:<\/p>\n
First, perhaps the most serious misperception is that marine
\nresource crimes are \"inconsequential fishing infractions\" that
\nare not worthy of serious treatment by the judiciary. Nothing
\ncould be further from the truth: Indonesia relies on fish for
\nover half of its animal protein, and destructive and illegal
\nfishing practices directly threaten food security.<\/p>\n
Reefs that are bombed and cyanided become barren, lifeless
\nfields of rubble that produce a tiny fraction of the over 20
\nmetric tons per square kilometer of fish that a healthy reef will
\nyield annually.<\/p>\n
Moreover, illegal fishing in the country's network of marine
\nreserves greatly compromises their effectiveness as \"fish banks\",
\nwhere fish stocks are allowed to recover, reproduce and \"export\"
\nlarval fish to surrounding areas.<\/p>\n
A second misperception is that blasting and cyaniding are done
\nby poor fishers with no other alternatives. To the contrary,
\nthese illegal methods are highly lucrative and are often backed
\nby powerful businessmen. Given the profitability of these crimes,
\nminimal sanctions are simply considered a cost of business and
\nare not a true deterrent.<\/p>\n
A frequent suggestion from local NGOs is that increased
\nenvironmental awareness of fishers will \"empower\" them to police
\ntheir own reefs.<\/p>\n
Third, a related misperception is the belief -- or perhaps
\nhope? -- by government agencies in charge of funding enforcement
\nthat the need for expensive waterborne patrols will decrease as
\nmarine conservation awareness increases.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking. As Indonesia's reefs
\ncontinue to degrade and fish become scarcer and more expensive,
\nthe incentive to fish illegally -- and hence the need for
\nprofessional enforcement regimes -- only increases. Even the most
\nenvironmentally aware fishers are largely powerless against those
\nusing bombs and cyanide.<\/p>\n
In Komodo, for example, blast fishing was largely perpetrated
\nby well-organized and heavily armed deer poachers from outside
\nthe park, who would not hesitate to shoot or bomb any boat that
\nattempted to apprehend them. Enforcing the law against such
\ndangerous criminals is hardly a task for local fishers.<\/p>\n
Finally, there is a continuing misperception by policymakers,
\nNGOs and donors alike that coastal fishing villages are opposed
\nto stronger marine enforcement -- so much so that many coastal
\nmanagement programs avoid the \"thorny issues\" of enforcement in
\nfavor of more cuddly initiatives that will be readily accepted by
\nfishing communities.<\/p>\n
In my experience, this resistance to enforcement is largely
\nimaginary; most fishing villages openly welcome stronger
\nenforcement, as long as it is evenly applied. Nothing angers
\nfishers more than when they are expected to obey the law, while
\nwell-connected individuals disregard it with impunity.<\/p>\n
Experience at Bunaken and Wakatobi clearly shows that once
\nvillagers see that enforcement efforts are serious, they quickly
\nbecome the first line of defense in reporting all illegal fishing
\nactivities to authorities. These folks fully understand the
\nseriousness of marine resource crimes and the threat caused to
\ntheir livelihoods.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, the above situations are not unique to
\nIndonesia. Last year, I chaired a session on marine enforcement
\nat the 2nd International Tropical Marine Ecosystems Management
\nSymposium. The 60 marine managers from across the tropics who
\nparticipated in this session unanimously reported similar
\nfrustrations, and formulated a series of recommendations that
\ncentered upon the need for policymakers and judiciaries, NGOs and
\ndonors, to finally get serious about marine enforcement.<\/p>\n
Specific recommendations include training programs for police
\nand legal system professionals through which to show them the
\ndevastating impacts of marine resource crimes firsthand,
\nprovision for special environmental courts with trained judges to
\nhandle marine crimes cases, and dramatically increased budgets
\nfor those agencies in charge of protecting coastal ecosystems.<\/p>\n
Given the grave importance of protecting Indonesia's marine
\nresources for the livelihoods of its future generations, it is
\nclearly time to recognize the severe consequences of illegal
\nfishing practices and declare war upon them.<\/p>\n
Dr. Mark Erdmann has worked as a marine biologist in Indonesia
\nsince 1992. He is the North Sulawesi advisor to the USAID Natural
\nResources Management Program and a 2004 Pew Fellow in marine
\nconservation.<\/p>",
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