Fishery industry to top Rp 100 trillion in 2005

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.