INDONESIAN FISHERY RESOURCES BENEFIT FOREIGN POACHERS

 By Andi Abdussalam

           Jakarta, April 7 (Antara) - Rich in 5,000 million fish species, Indonesia's 5.8 million square kilometers of waters continue to benefit foreign vessels as the country's policies on the fishery sector have loopholes which foreign poachers can take advantage of.
         The government's policies allowing foreigners to conduct fish catch trans-shipment on the sea and to make use of its small islands and their surrounding waters are loopholes that can be abused by foreign vessels to illegally tap Indonesian fishery resources.
         After all, Indonesia still does not have adequate fishing patrol boats to supervise its waters to ensure that fish poaching does not take place. It is estimated that Indonesia suffers a loss of about Rp30 trillion yearly due to fish poaching. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimated that the losses suffered by Indonesia due to illegal fishing reached Rp300 trillion per annum, according to Tempo.co in a report on January 8, 2014.

 
         Therefore, the People's Coalition for Fishery Justice (Kiara) alleged that the management of the country's fisheries and marine resources still benefits foreigners while, in fact, it should give priority to the protection and empowerment of traditional fishermen at home.
        "Foreign hands have intervened in the marine resources management policies," Kiara Secretary General Abdul Halim said in Jakarta on Sunday.
         He stated that the country's marine resources and fisheries management policy is oriented towards liberalization so that foreign parties can take advantage of the freedom. On the contrary, traditional fishermen were sidelined and discriminated against.
    Thus, national policies in this regard need to be adjusted, particularly with regard to the protection and empowerment of traditional fishermen, to ensure a fair working relationship between commercial fishing operators and fishermen.
          Earlier, Marine Resources and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo said his ministry had launched efforts to improve the income and welfare of traditional fishermen through the Fishermen Welfare Improvement Program.
         "The program aims at improving fishermen's entrepreneurship and income," Sharif Cicip Sutardjo asserted.
         He claimed that the government's Welfare Improvement Program (PKN), launched in 2011, had succeeded in improving the welfare of Indonesia's fishermen. 
    "In the past when the fishermen went fishing for one week, they would earn an income of less than Rp10 million, but now they can earn Rp37 million for a week's fishing,"   Sharif Cicip Sutarjdo said, while giving fishing boats to fishermen as assistance in Aceh Province last month.
         The program targets poor fishermen and their families living in fishing port-based areas.  In the country there are about 1.4 million underdeveloped traditional fishermen living in 10 thousand villages along the country's 95,181-kilometre coastline.
         Data and Information Centre of Kiara indicates that foreign parties are given the freedom to use small islands and their surrounding waters. This is reflected in Article 26A point 1 of Law No. 1/2014 on Amendment of Law No.27/2007 on the Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands.
         "This is regardless of the fact that the Constitutional Court has issued a correction on Law No. 27/2007 through its decision No. 3/PUU-VIII/2010," Abdul Halim stated, adding that it was clear that the message of the 1945 Constitution on the management of marine resources and fisheries had been breached.
         He said that from 2001 to 2013, a total of 6,215 fish-poaching cases were recorded. Ironically, however, the marine affairs and fisheries minister issued a regulation which allowed foreign vessels to conduct fish catch trans-shipment.
         This is one of the reasons why poaching cases increased in Indonesian waters. Every year an average of 100 foreign fishing boats poach in Indonesian waters.
         Halim alleged that the government's policy with regard to the country's waters reflected the scant attention it paid to the marine sector, as Indonesia shared borders with 10 countries and they were free to enter the country's waters to poach.
         Neighboring countries recorded to be often poaching in Indonesian waters included Malaysia, the Philippines, China, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar, he said.
         Apart from this, the budget of the ministry of marine resources and fisheries did not reflect serious efforts to supervise the country's waters. The ministry only has 24 patrol ships, out of which two or three ships have been added only recently. This number is still far from ideal. Indonesia should ideally have 80 patrol ships.
        According to Director General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision Syahrin Abdurrahman, who was quoted by portalkbr.com online media last January, losses suffered by the state due to poaching in the Indonesian waters by foreign fishing vessels amounted to Rp30 trillion a year.
         Fish theft in Arafura Sea alone reached a value of about Rp11.8 trillion annually, he said.
         Syahrin stated that maximum illegal fishing took place in Indonesian waters, namely in its exclusive economic zones (EEZ). Besides, poaching was done with illegal equipment, which was not eco-friendly, and the fish was taken for trans-shipment in the sea.
         "It has been mentioned in the license documents where the fishing vessels have to fish and where they have to unload their catch. All has been decided," the director general added.
         But why could foreign vessels poach fish in Indonesian waters so easily? According to Secretary General of the Marine Resources and Fisheries Affairs Sjarief Widjaja, as quoted by the batampos.co.id online media last December, of the 594,800 fishing ships Indonesia has, only 4,800 are able to sail into the waters as far as 12 miles away.
         The remaining 590 thousands fishing boats are only able to fish in coastal areas.
         "So, this gives a chance to foreign vessels to operate farther out in our waters. After all, we have 5.8 million square kilometres of waters with 5,000 species of fish," he said.
         He said that if Indonesia is able to build more large ships, it will help reduce the number of illegal fishing cases in the country.***2***

(T.A014/INE/B003)
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