Marine security system planned to stop poaching

Marine security system planned to stop poaching

BANDUNG (JP): The government will require all commercial
vessels bearing Indonesian flags weighing more than 2,000 dead
weight tons to equip themselves with transponders next year in an
attempt to curb illegal entry and poaching in the country's
territorial waters.

"This is part of an integrated monitoring system to be
introduced to stop theft of marine products or smuggling,"
Minister of Marine Exploration Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said here on
Thursday.

Sarwono was in Bandung for an official visit to the state-
owned aircraft maker IPTN.

The system, which will employ satellite and radar monitoring,
seemed to be the best way to monitor the activities of ships in
Indonesian waters, Sarwono said, adding that Peru, Morocco and
India were already using such a system.

Sarwono said the new system would cost the state between US$3
million and $10 million, said Sarwono. "Not including the price
of transponders, which must be made available by the owners of
the vessels."

According to Sarwono, many foreign vessels hoisted Indonesian
flags to poach in Indonesian waters while authorities were often
unable to take legal action.

But, ironically, many times "the vessels' crews had a legal
permit to use the Indonesian flag ... the permits were issued by
Indonesian authorities," Sarwono admitted.

Sarwono pointed to the rampant theft of marine products,
especially fish, from Indonesian waters.

"Illegal foreign fishing in our waters costs us an estimated
Rp 500 million to Rp 4 billion in lost revenue annually," he
said.

Sarwono said that the regulation to back up the new integrated
monitoring system was being prepared by his office.

"We expect the regulations to be completed by the end of this
year."

While awaiting the drafting of the regulations, a trial of the
new system involving some 60 local vessels will be held in June
this year under the supervision of state-owned Sucofindo.

With the trial, more input into the monitoring system is
expected, he said. "Therefore, the regulations could be improved
based on what happens during the trial, before its
implementation."

It is hoped that once the integrated monitoring system is
applied, authorities can instantly detect if a ship sailing in
Indonesian waters belongs to foreign parties.

He said that several foreign companies had offered their
services to run the systems, citing Argos from the Philippines
and Imarsat and Racal from England.(25/sur)