PT Daya Guna to use satellite for fishing

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed fishing company PT Daya Guna Samudera is planning to use the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) satellite to detect fish in eastern Indonesian waters through an upwelling process.

"The use of the NOAA satellite will make sea fishing much more efficient, economical and productive because ships could be better directed to resources," Daya Guna Samudera president Anwar Pulukadang said yesterday in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi.

Daya Guna Samudera would also use the ARGOS satellite system to monitor fishing ships in the eastern waters and record their catch, Pulukadang said after signing a cooperation agreement with the Agency for the Research and Application of Technology.

Indroyono Susilo, an executive of the Jakarta-based agency, said the agency would help Daya Guna Samudera use the NOAA satellite to detect fish in eastern waters.

Susilo said a more accurate fish detection system would cut Daya Guna Samudera's operating costs by directing its ships to schools of fish.

"Daya Guna Samudera will be able to significantly improve the management of its fishing fleet which is crucial for increasing the competitiveness of its products," Susilo said.

Pulukadang said the ARGOS satellite system and NOAA satellite would greatly help Daya Guna Samudera improve the operational efficiency and productivity of its fishing fleet.

"We can closely monitor the locations of our fishing ships and can easily move them around to targeted resources. We can also keep ourselves posted of their catches," he added.

Daya Guna Samudera, which listed 100 million shares, or 23.67 percent of its common stocks, on the Jakarta and Surabaya stock exchanges last October, operates in the Arafura Sea, Maluku Sea and South China Sea.

The company can process fish at its base in Benjina, northern Maluku. It produces frozen shrimp, frozen fish, fish filets and fish meal mostly for export to Japan.

Daya Guna Samudera, which is licensed to operate 215 fishing boats, has another fishing base in Tarempa near the South China Sea. (vin)