NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES POACH RI'S FISH by Fardah

Jakarta, Aug. 24, 2009 (ANTARA) - An official has warned that Indonesia`s marine wealth might disappear in the next five years if the country is not committed to stopping poaching mostly carried out by neighboring countries` fishermen.

The largest number of poachers in Indonesia`s waters were from Vietnam, followed by Thailand, China and Malaysia, Aji Sularso, director general of marine resources and fisheries supervision and control, said when when speaking at the Coordinating Forum on the handling of Fishery crimes, organized by the West Kalimantan authorities in Pontianak, on August 21, 2009.

"It`s quite ironic that while our marine resources are plentiful, out of around 57.7 million tons of fish catchment and aquaculture, only five percent are managed by local fishermen, while the rest are stolen by foreign fishermen," he told the forum`s participants which included policemen, naval officers, judges, prosecutors, and marine and fishery officials.

Malaysia`s fishermen ranked fourth in the list of foreigners conducting illegal fishing activities in Indonesia`s Natuna waters, he said, adding that the number of Malaysia`s fishing boats operating in Natuna waters illegally had increased over the past few years.

"Every time we patrol the Natuna waters, there are always Malaysian fishing boats poaching in the waters, although their number is less than Vietnamese fishing boats," he said.

Other foreign poachers include those from the Philippines, Taiwan and China.

There are at least three water areas which become `favorite` areas for foreign poachers, namely Natuna, Arapura and North Sulawesi waters.

The marine and fishery affairs ministry, therefore, focused its patrol activities in the three areas by involving 23 patrol boats. While, ideally the ministry should have at least 70 patrol boats, he said.

Among the modus operandi used by foreign poachers are illegal entry into Indonesian waters , document falsification, sailing under Indonesian flags to dodge detection by Indonesian security personnel, using equipment not in accordance with the regulations, and ship status transitional change.

Factors leading to the rampant poaching activities in Indonesian waters included weak legal enforcement, increasing demand for fish while fish stock went down, prompting foreign fishermen to poach in Indonesian waters, he said.

In order to fight illegal fishing activities by foreign poachers, Indonesia needed to impose strict legal enforcement, make better coordination among related institutions, and allocate adequate funds for patrol operation, he said.

Indonesia has a stock of up to 6.4 million tons a year while illegal fishing covers up to 1.6 million tons a year. Indonesia suffers a loss of up to Rp30 trillion a year due to Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The estimated loss of up to Rp30 trillion a year is logical with the price of fish now reaching up to US$2 per kilogram while the number of foreign vessels conducting illegal fishing in the country`s waters reaches 1,000 a year, he said.

The marine and fishery affairs ministry`s data showed that in 2007, a total of 2,207 fishing boats were investigated, and 184 cases of them were processed legally. They included 212 foreign fishing boats and 89 of them were brought to court.

Last year, the ministry detained 246 foreign fishing boats, and from January to July 2009, some 80 foreign fishing boats from Vietnam, Thailand, China and Malaysia were captured for poaching in Indonesian waters.

Marine and Fishery Affairs Minister Freddy Numberi launched a website on "Stop Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated (IUU) Fishing" coinciding with the opening of an international seminar on "Intensifying Action to Minimize Illegal Fishing", which was held in Manado, North Sulawesi, last August 16, 2009, as part of the Sail Bunaken activities.

Earlier, Minister Numberi Indonesia warned that Indonesia would sink foreign boats fishing illegally in the country`s waters. He said firm action was needed to deter foreign boats from continuing to poach in Indonesian waters.

"We are glad the House`s Commission IV supports us in this," he said at a meeting with the House commission in Jakarta, last early June.

He said his office and the parliament were currently revising the law on marine resources with regard to dealing with crimes in the seas. The revision would be aimed at regulating firm actions including sinking ships found illegally fishing in the country`s waters.

Commission IV member Elviana at the meeting said the firm actions needed to be implemented immediately to deter foreign parties intending to steal fish from Indonesian waters.

She said the system of auctioning seized boats was not effective as shown by the fact that illegal boats such as from Thailand still continued operating in a great number.

The legislator said the system had been manipulated. "It is believed auctions have been arranged to ensure that the boats can be sold to their owners who are also the suspects," she said.

West Kalimantan Province will be designated as a pilot project for the handling of illegal fishing activities in Indonesian waters.

"We will make West Kalimantan a pilot project for the handling of illegal fishing , not because law enforcement in the province is weak but because the rampant poaching activities in Natuna waters, which is close to West Kalimantan," Aji Sularso said in Pontianak last week.

Another consideration was because the province already had an Ad Hoc court, out of the five existing in the country.

West Kalimantan waters covering Natuna, Karimata and part of South China Sea, has potential catchment of 1.63 million tons of fish per year.

West Kalimantan authorities have jailed a total of 1,762 foreign fishermen and seized 148 foreign fishing boats for poaching in Indonesian waters from 2001 up to July 2009.

"The income rate of West Kalimantan`s fishermen has fallen over the past ten years (due to illegal fishing by foreign fishermen)," Syakirman, secretary of the West Kalimantan administration, said in Pontianak recently.

In fact, various fishery management regions in the country have been considered over crowded, and Indonesia`s fish resource preservation is being threatened by overfishing.

"Clearly, it`s a big challenge for Indonesia to meet the commitment to a responsible fishery management," Soen`an Hadi Poernomo, head of the ministry`s statistical data and information center, said early this year.

Java Sea, Arafura Sea, Karimata Strait and Sulawesi Sea were over crowded, he said.

For fish preservation, by-catch fishery must be controlled, the number of fishing boats must be in status quo, and even be decreased, and fishing schedule as well as equipment must be regulated tightly, he stated.

Illegal fishing activities by foreign poachers have even more worsened Indonesia`s fishery problems, and therefore they need to be stopped immediately.

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