Illegal fishing still rampant in RI waters: Minister

Nana Rukmana and Jupriadi, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon/Makassar

Fish theft by foreign fishermen reaches between one million tons and 1.5 million tons annually due to the absence of tight supervision from the authorities, says Minister of Maritime Resources Development Rokhmin Dahuri.

He said security authorities could not work optimally because of the limited amount of equipment, including patrol boats and human resources, and the large sea territory of the country.

"Fish theft will remain rampant in the future unless necessary action in terms of qualified human resources and adequate equipment are taken to tighten security on the waters," he said in his address to the meeting of Coordinating Forum for Fish Resources Utilization (FKPPS) here on Tuesday.

Rokhmin declined to identify the foreign fishermen's countries of origins but said Indonesia has captured around 150 foreign ships fishing illegally in Indonesian waters.

"A number of foreigners are still serving their jail sentences in a number of prisons after being found guilty of fishing illegally in Indonesian waters," he said.

Local fishermen in numerous regions across the country have frequently complained about the rampant illegal fishing by Thai, Philippine and Taiwan fishermen.

Numerous foreign fishing ships have deployed sophisticated technology to detect security authorities' patrol boats as well as waters containing fish.

Asked to comment on the North Sumatra fishermen's complaints about the absence of security on the waters, Rokhmin admitted that the security problem had long disturbed fishermen in Belawan waters but authorities could not take the necessary measures because of the absence of patrol boats and money.

He promised to give an immediate response to the fishermen's complaints by making coordination with the police and the Navy.

He said his office would also help the police to purchase patrol boats to enhance security in local waters.

Hundreds of fishermen staged a demonstration in Medan last week, demanding the naval base in Belawan and the local police tighten security in Belawan waters and search for 50 fellow fishermen abducted by unidentified gunmen recently.

So far, the security authorities have yet to ascertain the abductees' whereabouts.

The Gorontalo provincial administration has also complained about the theft of tuna fish committed by illegal foreign fishing ships in the province's exclusive economic zone.

I.S. Harahap, chief of the investment section at the Gorontalo industry and trade office, said the fish theft had remained rampant because of the lack of law enforcement.

"So far, the new province has yet to have a maritime police unit to supervise the waters," he said, adding that most of the foreign fishing ships came from China, the Philippines and South Korea.

The export of tuna fish to Japan and South Korea has decreased to around 200 tons monthly from 250 tons in the past, he said, adding the province had the potential to export more than 82,000 tons of tuna fish annually.