Desy Nurhayati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In an effort to reduce illegal fishing activities which have threatened the archipelago's resources, the government is set to establish special bodies mandated to control fishing activities in nine maritime zones.
Indonesia's sustainable production of marine fishery resources reaches 6.4 million tons per year or about 8 percent of the world's potential production.
Ali Supardan of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry said Tuesday the ministry would establish nine bodies, one for each maritime zone, starting with the Arafura Sea.
Other zones include Malacca Strait, South China Sea, Java Sea, Makassar Sea, Banda Sea, Tomini Gulf, Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean.
""We expect the special body for Arafura Sea will start working by the end of this year,"" Ali said.
Each body would involve local fishermen, fishery researchers and experts, police officers, fishery businessmen and local administration. They would provide fishing regulation recommendations based on scientific data and would set sanctions for violators.
""Overfishing has started to threaten fish resources in most of our oceans,"" Ali said.
""We have to manage the resources properly to prevent fish scarcity and to preserve ocean zones.""
The Arafura Sea body would compliment Indonesia's international maritime bodies, said the director of fish resources at the ministry, Suseno.
""We have joined some intergovernmental organizations, including the West Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission, but the Arafura Sea body will be our country's first to conduct supervision in a particular ocean zone,"" he said.
The ministry would gradually establish similar bodies for each ocean zone in the country.
To prevent illegal fishing by foreigners the body would also cooperate with neighboring countries, including Australia and the Philippines.
Indonesia is the world's largest maritime country with 81,000 kilometers of coastline. The archipelago boasts coastal and ocean resources in 75 percent of its marine areas.
