Jakarta, Jan 19 (Antara) - The government announced on Thursday that fishermen can use trawls for fishing again after it had banned the use of the gear through Maritime and Fisheries (KKP) Minister's Regulation Number 1/PERMEN-KP/2015.
Fishermen can thus use trawls until the process to switch over to the use of other environment-friendly fishing gear is completed.
"Fishermen can go fishing with trawlers during the transition period. However, there are certain conditions," KKP Minister Susi Pudjiastuti had stated at a press conference in Jakarta on Thursday.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) had remarked at a meeting with fishermen protesting in front of the Merdeka Palace that the government will give them additional time to stop using trawlers.
"The conclusion is that we give them more time to change their fishing nets from trawls to other tools, without any deadline. However, please do not add more trawlers," the president noted.
However, Pudjiastuti emphasized that the government does not allow fishermen to add a boat that uses cantrang, or trawls, to catch fish.
"I want you and not the foreign fishing vessels to control the Indonesian waters," Pudjiastuti stated while speaking aboard a vehicle of demonstrating fishermen at the National Monument Square (Monas) on Wednesday afternoon.
President Jokowi had earlier kept his promise to meet the fishermen's representatives: Chairman of the Alliance of Indonesian Fishermen Riyono, Vice Chairman of the Alliance of Indonesian fishermen Suyoto, Chairman of Tegal's fishermen cooperatives Hadi Santosa, and the skipper of a fishing vessel, Rasmijan.
Representatives of the fishermen were received by President Jokowi at 3:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. He was accompanied by Minister Pudjiastuti and Minister/State Secretary Pratikno.
Participants of the rally that began at 8 a.m. local time dispersed after the government had committed to providing them more time to use trawls.
They were accompanied by Batang District Head Wihaji, Tegal District Head Enthus Susmono, Pati District Head Yaryanto, Rembang District Head Abdul Hafidz, and Tegal Mayor Nursoleh.
Susmono remarked that the fishermen are still required to change their fishing gear from cantrang to more environment-friendly ones.
He also added that the head of each region will help fishermen with bad credit, so that they can change their fishing gear to more environmentally friendly ones.
"It is clear that the crew members of fishing vessels and fishermen are now allowed to operate again. Any problems with regulations will always have solutions," Susmono pointed out.
While announcing the government's decision that allowed the use of trawls during the transitional period, Minister Pudjiastuti noted that there are certain conditions that fishermen should abide by.
Pudjiastuti emphasized that the provisions include the condition that fishermen using trawls can only fish in the waters of the northern coast of Java Sea.
Moreover, she stated that no fishing boats with cantrang fishing gear or trawlers should be added.
Furthermore, the fishermen are also expected to re-measure the size of their ships, and all must be listed. Fishermen can only operate cantrang in the waters spanning the districts of Batang, Tegal, Rembang, Pati, Juwana, and Lamongan. All these areas are located in Central Java Province.
In addition, the government will provide assistance to fishermen with bad credit and has urged them to provide valid data on the size of their ships. Accurate data on the size of the ships must be provided.
"If there is still a lie, the ship will be sunk next year," Pudjiastuti remarked.
Hence, Pudjiastuti has planned to form an internal Task Force of Switching of Fishing Gear to help fishermen switch from their fishing tools to environment-friendly ones. The task force will be formed without a rigid bureaucratic mechanism.
The task force comprises various elements, including the Directorate General of Maritime and Fishery Resources Control, Directorate General of Capture Fisheries, Indonesian National Army Navy, Task Force 115, and also heads of regions. The task force is likely to be chaired by Vice Admiral (ret.) Widodo.
With the issuance of the latest policy, Minister Pudjiastuti had urged various parties to move on or no longer discuss the trawl issue, as the government and fishermen's representatives had reached an agreement on the issue.
"I urge all stakeholders to stop discussing about the trawl (cantrang) issue. I will no longer talk about cantrang. We are moving on," Pudjiastuti affirmed on Thursday.
According to Pudjiastuti, the government is adopting a firm stance on the management of the national marine and fisheries sector, where sustainability is one of the pillars of development in that field.
The government had earlier banned the use of trawls since the fishing equipment is dragged across the seabed, thereby harming the marine ecosystem.
"We agree that trawls are dragged across the seabed, and hence, they are destructive," Minister Pudjuastuti had then noted in a written statement.
Pudjiastuti affirmed that the use of trawls could harm the ecosystem, which is a habitat for the organisms that the fish feed on, and could reduce the productivity of the seabed.
Trawls could also net several types of fish of varying sizes, thereby running counter to the principle of sustainability and the Indonesian fishery policy.
"Several fishermen have, in fact, already switched to using other equipment. Cantrang is no longer used by small fishermen, but big players and several of them also use gillnet and purse seine. Hence, its use is not yet over," she had revealed last year.***1***
(A014/INE)EDITED BY INE/H-YH(T.A014/A/BESSR/A/Yosep) 19-01-2018 17:07: |
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar