Govt to enact fishing regulations to protect marine resources

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Agriculture may enact regulations to protect Indonesia's marine resources from potential overexploitation due to easing of government restrictions on the import of fishing vessels, a senior official has said.

Director General of Fisheries F.X. Murdjijo said early last week the Ministry of Agriculture would work together with the Ministry of Industry and Trade to impose the regulations.

He said his office would propose a maximum catch level and the number of fishing vessels each company might operate along with the type of fishing equipment allowed.

"We will find the best way to prevent fishing companies from overexploiting our marine resources while managing these resources in a sustainable manner," he said.

The solution would not break with the government's commitment to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said.

He said that although fishing resources were renewable, they might become exhausted if not managed in a sustainable manner.

The government's move to liberalize regulations on the import of fishing vessels is part of the economic measures announced by President Soeharto recently to support the US$43 billion bailout package arranged by the IMF.

But some environmental analysts have said that the decision would result in the overexploitation of the country's marine resources.

Indonesia's fishing industry hauled in over 4.7 million tons of fish last year, a 5.9 percent increase from the 4.4 million tons it caught in 1996. The number represents about 44 percent of the country's annual fishing capacity.

A government restriction on the import of fishing vessels was previously enacted in 1996 under a Minister of Agriculture decree. The decree stipulated that through 1999, fishing companies would only be allowed to import 960 long-liners, purse seiners and fishnets at a rate of 320 vessels a year.

The importation of used fishing vessels was only allowed for vessels that have been in service for more than 10 years. The vessels also had to receive prior approval from the Directorate General of Fisheries.

The decree was issued to protect Indonesia's territorial waters from being illegally exploited by modern fleets flying foreign flags chartered by Indonesian companies. Illegal foreign fishing has caused $2 billion in losses per year for Indonesia.

Murdjijo said that under the decree, at least 24 companies had received licenses to import used vessels while four companies had been allowed to import new vessels last year.

But he admitted that those companies had been only able to import 281 used fishing vessels due to the monetary crisis which had caused difficulties in paying for imported vessels.

He added that fishing companies were also facing difficulties in procuring loans from banks to import vessels due to the crisis.

Regardless of financial problems, Murdjijo said that his office had received proposals from fishing companies to import at least 1,000 vessels this year now that the restrictions had been eased. But due to Presidential Decree No. 22/1998, which states that the importation of fishing vessels will be handled by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the proposals still have to be reviewed, he said. (gis)