Govt to imposes levies on fishing permits, catches
Govt to imposes levies on fishing permits, catches
JAKARTA (JP): Fishing companies, depending on their vessel
types and capacities, will have to pay between Rp 11,250 (about
US$1.18) and Rp 109,773 per gross tonnage (GT) when applying for
a fishing permit beginning this year.
The levy requirement is stipulated in Regulation No. 141/2000,
one of two new regulations announced by the Ministry of Maritime
Affairs and Fisheries on Wednesday.
The other directive, Regulation No. 142/2000, requires fishing
companies to pay levies of 2.5 percent on their fish catch. The
amount of the payment is to be based on a reference price set by
the government.
"Both regulations were issued on Dec. 15, last year and became
effective 30 days after their issuance," the ministry's spokesman
Zukafril told The Jakarta Post.
He said that before issuing the two regulations, the
government did not impose any levies on either permits or
production.
According to him, the government can earn an estimated Rp 290
billion annually in non-tax revenue through the two levies.
Aside from raising its revenue, he said, the government also
wanted to better control the fishing industry.
"One consideration for imposing them (the levies) is to
achieve a more sustainable development of the fishing industry,"
he explained.
He said the growing number of vessels operating amid depleting
fishing resources, required a tighter control of these natural
assets.
"We have many interested parties but limited fishing
resources," he stressed.
He said that with the levies on fishery production, the catch
of a fishing vessel would be counted each time it unloaded it at
a harbor.
To supervise the implementation of these new regulations, he
said, his ministry would cooperate with the navy and other
related government offices.
Because the regulations would become effective as of next
week, he hoped the fishing industry had enough time to discern
the new policies.
"There is some time left, we can still do some publicity on
the regulations," he said.
Data from the ministry estimates Indonesia's fishing potential
at 6.7 million tons of fish per year, which makes up about 10
percent of the world's fishing resources.
Last year, fish exports from Indonesia are estimated to have
grown by 8 percent from the 1999 figure to US$1.74 billion.
In terms of volume, the country's fish exports rose by about
9 percent to 700,000 tons.
New investments in the fishing sector between January and
September last year were estimated at Rp 1.46 trillion.
Most of these investments were in fishing operations, fish
farming and fish processing.
Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sarwono
Kusumaatmadja has said his office was preparing new investment
schemes to lure in foreign investors, especially from China,
Japan, India and Europe.(bkm)