174 foreign vessels netted for illegal fishing

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 03/20/2006 8:31 AM

Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar

At least 174 foreign vessels were confiscated while fishing illegally in Indonesian waters last year, Director General of Supervision and Control of Marine Resources and Fishery Ardius Zainuddin said.

Some of the vessels had already been processed through the legal system, while others were still being investigated, Ardius said after delivering a speech at a conference on fishermen conflict settlement, attended by representatives from seven provinces.

""The confiscation of foreign fishing vessels saves the state at least Rp 500 billion (US$54,05 million) in losses,"" Ardius said. Indonesian usually experiences average losses of Rp 2 trillion annually due to illegal fishing practices, he said.

The losses were not only in the form of marine resources, but also fuel consumption and employment, as the vessels were usually manned by workers from their own countries, he said.

The confiscated vessels, from Asian countries including China, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, usually conducted their activities in the waters off Arafuru in Ambon, Natuna in the Riau Islands and Sulawesi.

Ardius said that in the first three months of this year the frequency of fishing thefts by foreign vessels, especially from Thailand, had fallen. Nine Vietnamese boats were confiscated in that period, he added.

Ardius said the limited availability of patrol boats was the biggest hindrance to efforts to prevent thefts in Indonesian waters.

""We have only six patrol boats, even though really about 89 vessels are needed,"" he said, adding that the Indonesian Navy had a similar problem. ""Such a limitation does make safeguarding our maritime borders difficult,"" he said.

Ardius said that aside from foreign vessels, losses were caused by local fishermen due to the continuing use of explosives to fish, which led to the destruction of coral reefs and sea life.

He said that coral reef destruction had reached an alarming level, especially in the Java Sea, North Sumatra, the Makassar Strait and Maluku.

""Several regions with large fishing populations have experienced over fishing,"" he said, adding that coral reefs were the basis of much of the sea ecosystem around Indonesia.

Comments (0) | Post comment

A | A | A |