Fishery catch still low

JAKARTA (JP): Only 50 percent of marine resources are being tapped, due to a lack of modern fishing equipment, Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin said on Wednesday.

At the opening of a national meeting of fishermen, Soleh said there was a potential fishery catch of 6.36 million tons a year.

"The lack of modern fishing equipment has hampered our ability to derive maximum benefits from our marine potential," the minister said, adding the fishing industry currently relies on traditional fishermen.

"They don't travel farther than 80 miles from the shore."

Soleh told Antara the government would build 40 special ports for marine catches throughout the country to encourage fishermen to boost fish and fish-related product output.

He said the Japanese government would provide about US$600 billion in financial aid to build the ports.

Export of fish and fish-related products is expected to reach 800 metric tons worth $2.13 billion this year.

Last year, foreign exchange earnings from fishery exports increased by 7.3 percent to $2.04 billion from $1.9 billion in 1997. (gis)