The government to realign fishery policies, Soeharto says

The government to realign fishery policies, Soeharto says

JAKARTA (JP): The government will realign its fishery policies
in order to further develop the country's agricultural sector,
says President Soeharto.

"Our key strategies to attain this objective will be the
expansion of agribusinesses and the people's fishery sector to be
achieved in sustainable and integrated management," Soeharto said
at the opening of the second national congress of The Indonesian
Association of Fishermen (HNSI) yesterday.

"We expect to see domestic fishery production in the coming
five years grow by 5.2 percent every year, so that fishery
production will reach 4.6 million tons in 1998," he said.

Soeharto noted that fishery production grew to 3.6 million
tons last year from 1.1 million tons in 1968. During the same
period, annual per capita fish consumption expanded to 17
kilograms from 10 kg.

Export earnings of this sector, he said, escalated to about
US$100 million in 1993, indicating a more than 75-fold increase
in 25 years."

Soeharto, however, expressed concern over the obstacles facing
fishery development.

He said that most fishing activities, for example, are
concentrated on seashores near densely populated areas, which
tend to be polluted, while at the same time other "fish-rich"
areas, which include the country's eastern areas, are ignored.

"This happens because of shortage of capital, lack of human
resources, poor application and adoption of the latest
technologies and insufficient economic incentives," Soeharto
said.

"We have to remember that in spite of the abundance of
potential fishery resources, most of our four million fishermen
live in poverty, and about 68 percent of them did not even finish
primary education," the President said. (hdj)