Ministry focuses attention on illegal fishing
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has focused its efforts on sea supervision and the issuance of permits in an effort to stop illegal fishing during the first 100 days of the new administration.
The practices of illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing reportedly causes the country to lose up to US$1.9 billion per year, in the form of declines in revenue from legal fishing.
In an effort to combat illegal fishing, the ministry has temporarily stopped issuing new fishing permits, the head of the ministry's information center, Aji Sularso, said on Monday.
"We will evaluate the number of already issued fishing permits to make sure they do not surpass the catch limits set by the FAO," Aji said.
Indonesia's 5.8 million square kilometers of sea have the potential to yield 6.4 million tons of fish per year. The United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has set catch limits at 80 percent of the total potential yield of the area, or some 5.12 million tons per year.
Aji said Indonesia's total legal catch currently reached only 4.7 million tons per year.
"We will try to identify the total valid amount so that we can detect our losses and our real potential," he said.
In addition to delaying the issuance of new permits, the ministry has also intensified its sea supervision, in cooperation with the Navy, the Air Force and the sea police.
"We have implemented and will continue to implement preventive and repressive operations," said Aji.
In joint operations during the first 100 days of the new administration, these agencies have seized 60 vessels engaged in illegal fishing and investigated 55 others.
The ministry also revoked the licenses of 155 imported fishing vessels operated by local companies for using fake certification, said Aji.
To keep track of legal fishing vessels, the ministry plans to install 1,500 Vessel Monitoring Systems (VMS) on listed vessels.
"We have installed 1,020 VMSs aboard fishing vessels to help monitor their positions and reprimand those operating outside their permitted areas," he said.
Aji said the ministry had issued first warnings to 319 vessels and second warnings to 70 others, of which 33 were at risk of losing their permits.
All of these measures will help eliminate illegal fishing and reduce the losses to the fishery sector, Aji said.
He said the ministry also planned to improve its transparency and accountability in issuing new permits, once the current ban was lifted.
The ministry will shorten the permit processing to less than seven working days from the current 16 days.
Issued permits will be printed on security paper produced by the state printing company, Peruri, to avoid counterfeiting, he said. (003)