T

he Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian Navy in an effort to increase marine surveillance and improve law enforcement in Indonesian waters.

The agreement, co-signed by Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, the Navy chief of staff, as well as several high-ranking officers and senior representatives of the ministry's departments, formalizes a multi-year cooperation initiative between the entities, spanning information exchange, capacity building, research and development and resources sharing.

Susi said the initiative was aimed at supporting the ministry's two main strategies for combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing: the six-month moratorium placed on new fishing licenses and the recently issued banning of open-sea transshipment of fisheries products.

'With this MoU, the moratorium and the transshipment ban, we can push our maritime governance toward sustainable practices,' Susi told reporters at the MoU signing event at the Cilangkap Naval base in East Jakarta, on Monday. 'The Navy is ready to help us in our effort to sink ships [involved in illegal activities].'

Navy chief of staff Adm. Marsetio told The Jakarta Post that the cooperation also covered the drafting of a unified map for fishermen, the training of ministry officials informing them about treaties and laws governing the sea, as well as data-sharing that enables the Navy to act on the ministry's Vessel Monitoring System (VMS).

The Navy admiral also said he would fully deploy his forces once they overcame fuel shortages, as only 27 percent of the Navy's 5.6 kiloliter fuel consumption had been met, pending use of the 2015 state budget.

As of November, the ministry had captured five fishing ships from Thailand and another from Vietnam, as well as 163 ships measuring 10-15 gross tons in Berau, East Kalimantan.

The agreement comes on the heels of President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo's recent speech regarding the need for firm action to stem the tide of illegal fishing. According to the President, the state loses around Rp 300 trillion (US$24.4 billion) each year due to the practice.

After the MoU signing, Susi acknowledged asking for President Jokowi's guarantee that she would be protected from interventions. Susi's gung-ho initiatives are believed to have angered members of the so-called fishing mafia, prompting her to request safety for herself and her subordinates.

'I initially had worries regarding the ministry. The illegal fishing mafia is significant in number; I asked [Jokowi] for the protection of my [ministry] people, as my breakthroughs could have a [negative] impact on them,' she said.