RI, neighbors to fight illegal fishing

JAKARTA: Indonesia, Australia, East Timor and Papua New Guinea have agreed to work together to combat illegal fishing in the waters of Arafuru and Timor sea, a cabinet minister said here Friday.

Data and information exchanges among fishery experts would be part of the cooperation, maritime and fishery minister Rokhmin Dahuri said.

Speaking to reporters after opening the Arafuru and Timor Sea's Experts Forum (ATSEF) secretariat here, he said the two seas were widely known as the world's most potential fishing areas.

The seas had high carbon and nutrient supplies from rivers and mangroves, he said, adding illegal fishing by foreign trawlers remained high in the Indonesian waters.

The ATSEF was founded in 2002 as part of the implementation of the International Law in Sea's article 123 on countries' cooperation in research, benefiting from, and preserving maritime potentials. -- Antara