Foreign fishing boats' operations regulated

JAKARTA (JP): Local fishing companies wishing to lease foreign fishing boats must have fishing permits, according to the Ministry of Agriculture's new ruling.

The agriculture minister's Decree No.957/1996, dated Dec. 27 but released yesterday, stipulates that only fishing companies with permits to operate foreign ships can be licensed to lease foreign fishing boats.

The regulation says that foreign fishing boats of 800 gross tons or bigger will be allowed to operate only in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean parts of the country's exclusive economic zone.

The ruling says that permits to operate foreign fishing boats and fishing licenses for foreign ships are to be issued only to Indonesian companies which already own at least two Indonesian- flag fishing boats of at least 30 gross tons, a cold storage with a minimum 100-ton capacity, a canning plant, a shipyard with a minimum capacity of 150 gross tons and an ice plant with a minimum daily capacity of 10 tons.

The agriculture ministry, through its July 1996 decree, banned leased fishing boats operating under foreign flags in Indonesian waters.

According to ministerial decree No. 957/Kpts/IK.120/12/96, dated Dec. 27, 1996, leased fishing boats with foreign flags owned by local fishing companies must have fishing licenses from the ministry.

The decree stipulated the type of fishing equipment that could be used by fishing companies. They included long lines, single purse seine, group purse seine, fish nets, gill nets and squid jigging.

It said fishing companies would be charged US$140 a year for using long line, $159 for single purse seine, $225 for group purse seine and $290 for fish net, $70 for gill net and $85 for squid jigging equipment.

The decree said the stipulated fishing companies must sell their products both domestically and overseas.

It also stipulated that at least 30 percent of the crews belonging to these fishing companies consisted of Indonesians. (09)