Fishermen ask for nationalization of fishing vessels

Fishermen ask for nationalization of fishing vessels

JAKARTA (JP): The Federation of Indonesian Fishermen (HNSI) asked the government yesterday to allow the nationalization of more than 480 foreign fishing boats operating in Indonesia's territorial waters.

Tuk Setyohadi, the chairman of the association, announced after meeting with President Soeharto yesterday that the nationalization -- the switching of ownership from foreign to national property -- was needed to increase productivity.

He said Indonesia's maximum sustainable yield was presently 6.7 million tons a year, but only three tons are taken each year.

Indonesia, which presently lacks fishing vessels, allows foreign vessels to operate in its territorial waters. As a result, a large proportion of Indonesia's marine resources have been taken out of the country -- both legally and illegally -- by foreign fleets.

"This has caused financial losses of between Rp 500 million (US$219,230) to Rp 1 billion a year," Tuk said.

The government permits Indonesian fishermen to lease foreign vessels but bans the importation of used foreign fishing vessels.

Foreign fleets are allowed to operate in Indonesia only after they meet several requirements, including some fees, employing a specified number of Indonesian crew and getting permission from local port authority before exporting their catch.

Tuk said that foreign ships leased by Indonesians could qualify to be nationalized by the Indonesian partner after a number of years.

"But such a process is quite impossible because the government considers the action as importing a used fishing boat," he said.

Import

State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie said last month that the ban on the importation of used fishing vessels protected the Indonesian ship building industry.

State-owned shipbuilder PT PAL, which is overseen by the Agency for Strategic Industry Management, is the country's major ship producer. The agency is headed by Habibie.

Tuk doubted that the state company could meet the demand for fishing boats.

For 1996, he said, some 1,000 new fishing boats will be needed.

"Locally-produced vessels are extremely expensive and unaffordable to most fishermen and fishing entrepreneurs. Banks are also reluctant to give loans to ship builders because they consider the business risky," he said.

Tuk pointed out that used fishing vessels were far cheaper than those produced domestically. This was mainly because many countries were experiencing a decline in their fishing productivity, causing them to sell their ships at low prices.

The number of fishing vessels produced by traditional dockyards, he said, could meet the domestic demand "but they usually design vessels with traditional techniques. They don't have sophisticated designs and measurements, so they can't obtain licenses from the government," he said. (pwn)