Illegal fishing still rampant in RI waters: Minister

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.