ICCAT plans to boycott RI tuna products

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Members of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) are threatening to launch an embargo against Indonesian tuna products over alleged improper fishing practices, according to Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Rokhmin Dahuri.

"We received embargo threats from the ICCAT members via the Japanese government on Feb. 28 and Aug. 29," Rokhmin told the House of Representatives' Commission III on agriculture, maritime affairs and forestry on Monday.

He said that the embargo threats came amid allegations that Indonesian-registered fishing vessels were engaging in illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing in the Atlantic Ocean.

The ICCAT is a regional fisheries management organization that aims to eliminate IUU fishing for tuna and tuna-like species in the Atlantic Ocean.

"We will discuss this problem (the embargo threat) with the Australian government next month," Rokhmin said.

The two countries have agreed on a joint project to improve the management of Indonesia's tuna fisheries with a view to pushing for more sustainable fishing of Indian Ocean tuna.

The project will monitor catches in the waters off Benoa, Bali, and Muara Baru and Cilacap, Central Java.

Rokhmin said that the government had also made several efforts to curb IUU fishing , such as boosting supervision and law enforcement at sea.

In the meantime, Rokhmin said that the country's fish exports were expected to decrease by six percent this year from 487,166 tons in 2001.

He said that the decrease was due to a number of problems, including tighter requirements imposed by overseas markets.

In addition, said Rokhmin, importing countries had imposed very high import tariffs of up to 25 percent for Indonesian fish products.

He did not elaborate.

The country's fish exports reached some 519,415 tons worth some US$1.68 billion in 2000, compared with overall exports worth $1.63 billion in 2001.