Saving our seas

Saving our seas

As travelers know, Indonesia is a land of immense dimensions.
With 17,500 islands, Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago
to form a single nation-state. Some 6.5 million square
kilometers, or three-quarters of the country's total territory,
is water. Considering this, the establishment by President
Soeharto last week of the National Maritime Council is timely.

Since the advent of modern fishing and mining techniques
earlier during this century, the seas have become not only
strategic passageways for ships, friendly and hostile, and
approaches to the natural riches which the Indonesian islands
offer. They have become sources of valuable resources that have
lured Indonesians and foreigners alike. Although the President
remarked that in a country such as Indonesia, the development of
the maritime sector and the country's national security go hand
in hand, it is the economic aspect which is apparently foremost
on the President's mind.

The fact, however, is that at this stage of its development,
Indonesia lacks the means to effectively control the seas and
straits which, under its national doctrine, are regarded as
integral parts of the country's national territory but which many
foreign powers still regard as international waters. This perhaps
explains the persistence of foreign fishermen in operating in
Indonesian waters. Reports of foreign fishing boats being seized
by Indonesian navy patrols appear with regularity in the
newspapers. In the past two months alone, 200 foreign fishing
vessels were seized for illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

The government's concern about such foreign intrusions is
appropriate and understandable. Indonesia's territorial seas have
the potential of yielding close to seven million tons of fish a
year, but the national fishing fleet is capable of processing
only 1.9 million tons. An even more appalling situation prevails
in the domestic sea freight business, where close to 98 percent
of the cargo is carried from island to island by foreign ships.
In total, the maritime sector contributes about 15 percent of the
national gross domestic product.

Important as this particular aspect may be, however, it is but
one among a wide range of challenges in our maritime sector that
must be faced and resolved. Other obstacles abound, not the least
of which, though less spectacular, is stemming the destruction
that is taking place in and around our seas. Reports, for
example, have revealed around 70 percent of our 81,000 kilometers
of coastline has been damaged. The widespread and continuing
destruction of mangrove stands that protect our shores and
provide a breeding ground for various fish species remains a
problem that has to be tackled. The same is true for our coral
reefs.

The composition of the Maritime Council and tasks that it has
been given -- among other things, to advise the President and
formulate policies concerning maritime development -- is a
welcome sign that the scope of the problem is well understood by
the government. We hope, however, that concrete policies can be
drawn up and actual steps taken in time to curb and eventually
halt the destruction of our maritime resources. Otherwise, it may
take generations to restore what ignorance and greed have
damaged.