Fish poachers cost RI $4 billion

Fish poachers cost RI $4 billion

MALANG, East Java: Illegal fishing in Indonesian waters by
poachers from several countries had cost the country up to US$4
billion annually in lost revenues, a minister said on Saturday.

Minister of Maritime and Fishery Affairs Rochmin Dahuri said
in Malang after attending a doctoral test session at Brawijaya
University that foreign fishermen were stealing, on average,
between a million and 1.5 million tons of fish per year from
Indonesia.

He complained that the high rate of poaching was due mainly to
the small number of inefficiently operated patrol ships in
Indonesia, with only four operating in Banda - Belitung, Ketapang
- West Kalimantan, South Sulawesi and Jakarta.

With its vast territorial waters, he hoped his ministry would
be allocated funding for at least 75 more patrol vessels in order
to control the problem.

He added that his ministry would have four more boats next
year for Nias Island, Merauke, West Sumatra and West Nusa
Tenggara.

Nevertheless, Indonesia's sea fishery production has increased
this year to 5.3 million tons from only 3.7 million tons last
year, mostly with exports to Japan, North America and Europe.
--Antara