Letter: National fishing center

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s call this week for Maluku to become the “national fishing center” of Indonesia is certainly laudable (Yudhoyono calls for a maritime resurgence,  The Jakarta Post, Aug. 4), particularly if it brings an end to illegal fishing in the Arafura, Banda and Seram waters by foreign boats.  

However, there is an apparent emphasis in his speech on the building of more fishing ports and processing facilities, without any mention of the importance of insuring that this valuable resource is sustained in the longer term, or how it might be sustained. This is a bit worrying.

If you talk to local fishermen and divers in Maluku, they will all tell you how the number, variety and size of fish, at least in the waters around Ambon and Seram, have all declined significantly over the past decade.   

The UN’s environmental branch, UNEP, in a preview of its Green Economy Report due out in October, points out that unless major changes are made to current fishing practices, all fish stocks globally may become uneconomic to exploit or be extinct by 2050. Already 30 percent of the ocean’s fisheries have collapsed.  

It would be unfortunate if Yudhoyono’s call only results in foreign exploitation of this valuable resource being replaced by local exploitation and the eventual collapse of these fish stocks within a decade or two.

Hopefully we will hear more soon from the President regarding how the Government will ensure the longer term sustainability of the Maluku fisheries, as well as clear and realistic plans for the implementation of his vision, so that future generations of Indonesians will continue to benefit from this resource.

W. John Howe
Jakarta