Plan to allow trawlers in local waters delayed

Plan to allow trawlers in local waters delayed

JAKARTA (JP): The government has delayed its plan to lift a
ban on the operation of trawlers fishing in the country's
territorial waters due to resistance from traditional fishermen,
a senior official at the Ministry of Agriculture said on Friday.

Director General of Fisheries Untung Wahyono said recent
social unrest in several fishing towns was partly responsible for
the government's plan to lift the ban.

"The plan has caused jealousy among traditional fishermen
toward large fishing boats. So we have decided not to lift the
ban yet," he announced after signing an agreement on fishery
cooperation with Trisakti University.

Untung said the ministry would instead study a mechanism to
forge a better relationship between state companies, private
fishing companies and local fishermen so that the three parties
would be able to equally gain from the country's marine
resources.

Last month, thousands of fishermen ran amok in Cilacap,
usually a quiet fishing town facing the Indian Ocean in Central
Java.

The fishermen reacted violently to what they saw as unfair
distribution of their daily catch with their bosses and by the
presence of trawlers used by big fishing companies and fishing
boats from other regions.

They burned at least 10 trawlers, four cars, 10 motorcycles
and 20 houses belonging to residents of Chinese descent.

The use of trawlers is banned under a 1980 presidential decree
aimed to protect the country's marine resources from over
exploitation and to avoid further ecological destruction.

The use of trawlers is only allowed for deep-sea fishing
outside of the country's 200 nautical mile exclusive economic
zone.

The government eased the ban under a presidential decree in
1985, which states that the use of trawlers is allowed only for
shrimp catching in eastern Indonesia waters. Other types trawling
are still banned.

Minister of Agriculture Soleh Solahuddin said early last month
that the government was considering revoking the ban on trawlers,
reasoning that using trawls wisely, correctly and effectively
would not destroy marine resources.

But Soleh said that only small trawls would be allowed.

Untung said Indonesia was able to tap only 62 percent of its
marine resources due to a lack of sound fishing technology and
modern fishing equipment.

He said Indonesia had a potential fishery catch of 6.18
million tons a year and there were plenty of opportunities for
Indonesian fishing companies to exploit the country's supply of
fish and fish-related products.

"We should become a main player in the tuna fishing industry
because Indonesia is the world's largest archipelagic country and
we are very close to the Indian Ocean, which is teaming with
tuna," he said.

"The sector currently relies on traditional fishermen who use
conventional equipment. They don't travel out further than 80
miles from the shore."

Untung said Indonesia's export of fishery products was
expected to reach US$10 million in 2003.

This year, the country expects to earn $2.04 million from
fisheries exports, an increase by 7.3 percent from $1.9 million
recorded last year. Indonesia exported most of its fishery
products to Japan, the United States and European countries.
(gis)