MARITIME MINISTRY, NAVY TO JOINTLY FIGHT ILLEGAL FISHING by Fardah

    Jakarta, Nov 8, 2014 (Antara) - Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti recently voiced her concerns about Indonesia being the only country in the world to allow access to foreign boats to fish in its waters.

         "Only in our country can foreign boats fish," she stated in Jakarta, on Nov. 8, 2014.

          She cited the example of Australia, which has issued a policy to close access to 70 percent of its coral barrier reef area since 2009.

         The minister was of the viewpoint that implementing such a policy was necessary to preserve the nation's fish stocks.

         Minister Pudjiastuti recently stated that poaching by foreign fishing boats was rampant as her ministry has 27 patrol boats, which were only able to effectively monitor the nation's waters for 60 days a year.

        Indonesia loses a revenue of around Rp11 trillion, or equal to US$900 million, each year due to illegal fishing by foreign fishing boats.

        The minister pointed out that several foreign fishing boats unloaded their catch onto other boats in the middle of the sea or directly in countries such as Thailand and China. 
    She also expressed regret that fishing boats weighing up to 30 gross tonnage (GT) only paid Rp60 to Rp70 million per year.

         "There is something wrong. Many boats in Indonesia are not registered. There are also registered boats, though their products are not registered," she stated.

        Pudjiastuti has encouraged greater transparency in the process of registering fishing boats.

        In accordance with his aspirations to transform Indonesia into a maritime axis, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo recently announced a plan to increase the number of vessels used for patrolling the archipelago's waters.

         The number of Indonesian patrol boats was insufficient to effectively monitor some 5.4 thousand foreign ships sailing in the country's waters.

         Therefore, the government plans to import patrol boats from several countries to avoid dependence on any particular country, Jokowi was quoted as saying by the Jakarta Globe on Oct. 31, 2014.

         Recently, Minister Susi Pudjiastuti held a meeting with Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Navy (TNI AL) Admiral Marsetio to discuss joint efforts to curb illegal fishing activities.

           "Cooperation with the Navy is quite important. We hope cooperation with the Navy would become a common commitment to change Indonesia for the better," she emphasized. 
     Admiral Marsetio recently stated that the TNI AL was ready to assist the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry in curbing illegal fishing in the Indonesian waters.

          "We met the minister of maritime affairs and fisheries and the coordinating minister for maritime affairs yesterday. We will issue a new policy," Naval Chief of Staff Admiral Marsetio noted in Cilacap, Central Java, in early November of 2014.

         Admiral Marsetio was in Cilacap to accompany Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Indroyono Soesilo during a visit to a fish port in the city.

         In order to realize this goal, the Navy would require access to data at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, including information about fishing companies and the vessel monitoring system (VMS), he pointed out.

        "Both the Navy and the public will be given access to the data," he revealed.

        This way, the Navy will find it easier to detect whether or not fishing ships have permits as well as to spot fishing ships that abuse their permits, he explained.

          The Navy once found that a single permit was being used by five to seven fishing ships, he disclosed.

           "We must check whether or not fishing ships have VMS. If they have no VMS, then they must be punished to allow law enforcement in the sea," he affirmed. 
   Currently, the Navy does not have information pertaining to ships having fishing permits and those which do not have them.

         "Our sea is so wide that it is impossible to cordon it off with warships. The number of our ships is also limited," he noted. 
    The Navy Chief said his side and the related ministries were gathering data on various problems and challenges in the marine and fisheries sector.

          "We are making inventories on issues that should be addressed together, including illegal fishing," Marsetio remarked after the meeting.

           The Navy chief emphasized that making inventories was an important task, so that it could be followed up by concrete actions with regard to the on-field marine and fisheries problems.

           He stated that in the coming six months, after the Law on Maritime Affairs comes into effect, the government has to issue a regulation in lieu of the law with regard to the sea security agency (Bakamla).

         The Bakamla is a body similar to the United States' Coast Guard. It should serve as the only institution that carries out supervision of Indonesia's maritime territory.

          "Later, there will only be one agency," he remarked, adding that the body could reduce costs to be borne by businessmen in the marine sector.

          Marsetio pointed out that his institution also required more ships, as Indonesia's maritime defense capability was far below the minimum requirement.

         Indonesia has only two submarines and four frigates to support the nation's maritime defenses.

         Marsetio emphasized that the country needed at least 12 submarines and 16 frigates.

          On Nov 7, 2014, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu announced that the government would continue to modernize Indonesia's naval weaponry equipment.

          "For the time being, we will focus more on modernizing our naval weaponry system in line with President Jokowi's pro-maritime plans," the minister stated. 
    Indonesia is one of the world's largest maritime countries with about 5.8 million square kilometers of marine territory. The state has some 92 thousand-kilometer-long beaches and coastline, second only to Canada.

          It is the biggest archipelagic country in the world, with around 70 percent of its territory as water, and it has 17,480 islands.

            In order to focus on his ambition to make Indonesia a maritime power, Jokowi's cabinet lineup includes a new coordinating minister for maritime affairs, who will coordinate with the transportation minister, the maritime affairs and fisheries minister, the tourism minister, and the energy and mineral resources minister.    
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