Fishery industry to top Rp 100 trillion in 2005

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The fishery industry is expected to grow significantly this year as the government plans to capitalize on current fishery resources and protect local fishermen from foreign expansion.

Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Freddy Numberi said on Monday that the local fishery industry would be worth over Rp 100 trillion (US$11 billion) this year, or about 5.5 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

At present, the value of the local fishery industry remains low at about Rp 46.6 trillion, or 2.21 percent of the GDP.

"We hope the industry can grow larger and create more employment as we have devised a number of strategies to help revitalize it," Freddy said at the State Palace.

Among the strategies is to gradually reduce the number of foreign fishing vessels operating in Indonesian waters and to prevent illegal fishing, the retired Navy admiral added.

At present, 705 registered foreign fishing vessels are operating in Indonesian waters, with some 302 vessels from Thailand, 286 from China and 117 from the Philippines.

The ministry will also reduce the number of local and foreign fishing vessels operating in the northern and eastern Java Sea, due to a shortage of resources and to allow time for the fish to propagate.

The government will instead encourage fishing vessels to operate in the Arafura Sea and the South China Sea, which still contain sufficient resources.

Other efforts to improve the industry are to provide soft loans to fishermen for operational costs and to provide incentives for foreign investors willing to engage in the fishery industry.

"Our focus this year is to improve the investment climate in the sector by providing incentives and protection. There are several investors from the Philippines and China, who are interested in commencing fishery operations here," said Freddy.