O

ne can only agree with the government'€™s will to curb illegal fishing. However, the problems of illegal fishing and fish-stock depletion will not be solved by destroying the boats of a number of foreign fishermen. Illegal fishing involves foreigners and Indonesians alike. If only foreign boats are stopped, most of the illegal fishing in Indonesian waters will continue.  

Furthermore, it has been shown that the Indonesian police and  military were involved in illegal fishing. How can you control an illegal activity if law enforcers have illegal interests in it?  

In Indonesia, fish stocks are under-managed, under-monitored and under-regulated. All this requires a scientific approach to fishery. Too little effort has been allocated by former governments to fisheries science in Indonesia. The performance of the fisheries services is pathetically poor. Redressing the problem may take many decades.

Most fish stocks are already depleted in Indonesia. Although this is a worldwide trend, in Indonesia this problem is going to become a very serious one, as the population relies heavily on fish as a source of protein. The population continues to grow while fish stocks continue to decrease. The effect will be an ever-increasing market value of fish, to the point that poor people will no longer be able to afford it.  

To stop the depletion of fish stocks, some drastic measures have to be taken urgently. These include establishing more marine protected areas and effectively protecting them, imposing quotas on catch quantities, imposing quotas on fish size, reducing the fishing fleet and reducing subsidies.

This in turn means that the government must anticipate the transfer of fishermen into other income-producing activities '€” not an easy task, considering that there are  millions of Indonesians directly or indirectly dependent on fishing as their source of income.

Jan Karl
Jakarta