Jakarta,
March 21 (Antara) - As the global market increasingly demands clean
fishery products, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP)
urged all fishing ports in Indonesia to apply the ecoport concept to
eradicate environmental pollution in ports.
The
ecoport concept is also expected to help the government develop
sustainable fisheries and advance the country's fishery industry.
The
ministry has now launched an ecoport pilot project in at least four
fishing ports, after which the country's more than 800 fishing ports
will follow suit.
Besides
that, the ministry is also launching a fishery research program,
particularly for tuna fish, as part of its efforts to develop a
sustainable fishing industry.
"The
Ministry of Marine Resources and Fisheries (KKP) has launched a tuna
research program to develop sustainable fisheries," Marines Affairs and
Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo said on Wednesday.
Tuna
is considered the most threatened fish variety in Indonesia. According
to Minister Sutardjo, the exploitation of tuna fish in Indonesia had
reached an alarming level and all parties need to cooperate to stop it.
He
stated that the KKP is conducting research on the tuna population,
which included tuna production, genetics, temperature, depth of swimming
and time of feeding.
The
minister disclosed that the research also included observing how the
fish is treated after it is loaded on fishing ships and when it landed
at various fishing ports in Indonesia.
The
most important factor in sustainable fishery development is the fishing
ports, where the fish catch lands. Ports with damaged environment could
threaten fish production and biodiversity resources in their
surroundings.
Therefore,
the Ministry of Marines and Fisheries called on all fishing ports,
which total 816, to apply the ecoport concept. The concept is also
expected to optimize the fishery industrialization project now being
launched by the KKP.
"We
are convinced that the ecoport concept will help overcome a number of
environmental problems in the fishery sector," Fishery Port Director of
the KKP Bambang Sutejo said on Friday.
He said the application of the ecoport concept will help solve
environment problems. This includes degradation of sea water quality,
air pollution and nuisance, depletion of biodiversity resources, health
and occupational safety.
Those criteria, Bambang claimed, indicated that up to now, no fishing
port in Indonesia has ideally applied the ecoport concept.
However,
beginning in 2014, KKP's directorate for catch fish affairs will choose
several ports to be developed as pioneer projects in the implementation
of the concept.
Among the fishery ports the directorate has chosen for the pioneer
projects are the fishing ports of Bitung in North Sulawesi, Kendari in
Southeast Sulawesi, Ternate in North Maluku, Jakarta and Pelabuhan Ratu
in West Java.
A French development institution had visited six fishing ports in
Indonesia, where the ecoport concept will be applied. These six ports
are Nizam Zachman in Jakarta, Cilacap in Central Java, Bungus in West
Sumatra, Bitung in North Sulawesi, Kendari in Southeast Sulawesi and
Pelabuhan Raru in West Java.
"We will continue to popularize and provide information about the
ecoport concept to all port operators in the country," Bambang said when
inaugurating the operation of the Ogotua coastal fishing port in
Tolitoli District, Central Sulawesi, on Sunday.
He explained that the ecoport concept obligated all sides operating in
the port areas to bring to zero the level of contamination or pollution
in the air, land and in the waters of any ports.
"Investors who develop industries in the port areas are banned from
disposing any form of wastes in the port areas. Fishery industrial
wastes such as fish fins and bones should be processed into other forms
of valuable products," he said.
They are not allowed to let the liquid waste from their factories to
contaminate the water, or the gas wastes from their chimneys to pollute
the air. The same treatment should be applied to fuel waste. It should
not cause environmental damage to land or soil or to the waters around
the fishing ports, he said.
He said it was now increasingly urgent to apply the ecoport concept in
an effort to increase the competitive edge of all fishery products in
the global market.
The global market has become more and more insistent in its demand for
fishery products that are produced through an eco-friendly process.
"Almost all fishery products are for human consumption. So, their
production process must be guaranteed to be clean and free from
environmental pollution or contamination," Bambang said.
There are 816 fishery ports in Indonesia, which are operated under
technical implementing units (UPT). There are 22 UPTs under the
jurisdiction of the central government in Jakarta. Others are located in
other provinces.
Data at the KKP indicated that the total fish production in 2013 at the
22 UPTs, which were under the control of the central government, stood
at 548,318 tons.
Other data also showed that in 2013, there were 397,680 visits of
fishing vessels at the 22 fishing ports with 1,035,072 fishermen.
According to Bambang, the aim of fishing port policies is to reduce
poverty; improve the welfare of the people in general and the fishermen
in particular; increase food resilience and competitive edge; and
develop sustainable fishery resources.
Meanwhile, the KKP's Secretary General Sjarief Widjaja said last month
that his ministry this year set a production target of 20.95 million
tons of fish, with an expected export of US$5.65 billion.
"The production target consists of 6.08 million tons of catch fish and
13.97 million tons of cultured fish," Widjaja said in a written
statement last month.
The secretary general stated that to develop the fishery industry, the
KKP initially based its efforts on economic, ecological and
technological methods. Currently, it has included a social dimension to
assist in reaching its production target.
He said that to meet its goals, the KKP had set a number of top
priorities in its fishery production programs that it needs to carry out
in 2014. It is seeking a fish consumption of 38 kilograms per capita
per year, a fishery gross domestic production (GDP) increase of 7.25
percent and an export target of US$5.65 billion.***2***
(T.A014/INE/H-YH)
EDITED BY INE
(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 21-03-2014 20:5 |
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