No fishing permits until June

BANDUNG: The government will hold off issuing fishing permits until June to allow the new administration to correct deficiencies in the system.

Director General of Coastal Areas, Beaches and Small Islands Rochmin Dahuri said the past permit system was careless and imprecise.

"They would issue a permit for a company with 10 ships while there were actually 100," Dahuri said on Saturday.

He said improvements were needed to prevent the illegal fishing currently rampant in coastal areas.

It is also designed to ensure that there is no "overfishing", such as in the northern area of the Java Sea, which could drastically reduce the catch of local fishermen. (25/jun)