RI, neighbors to fight illegal fishing

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