T

he government will this year develop two ports in the outer islands off northern Sulawesi, to boost the domestic fish processing industry and reduce illegal shipments to the Philippines.

The construction of the two ports will support Indonesia'€™s policy of banning transhipments to curb illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry director general for captured fisheries Gellwynn Jusuf said on Sunday that his office planned this year to build two ports in Dago Island, Sangihe Islands regency and Salibabu Island, Talaud Islands regency, North Sulawesi.

'€œOur fishermen can dock there after catching fish and the produce can be transported to Bitung for processing,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

In addition, the government was also considering relocating the maritime resources and fisheries observatory station from Bitung, North Sulawesi, to Marore Island in Sangihe Islands regency or Miangas Island in Talaud Islands,
Gellwynn added.

Both Marore Island and Miangas Island are outer islands of Indonesia that border with the Philippines.

The development of the observatory station at either of these points may help detect the entry of foreign vessels and track the movement of illegal ships.

This will eventually affect the supply of fish to General Santos, the southernmost city of the Philippines.

Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said earlier that nearly all tuna supplies processed in General Santos were sourced illegally from Bitung.

With abundant raw material from Indonesia, the Philippine city can export fresh, canned tuna totaling US$2 billion worldwide, in contrast to only Rp 16 billion ($121.16 million) worth of exports from Bitung, according to local media reports.

Susi again said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com that 60 percent of fish delivered to the industry in General Santos came from Indonesia and that this situation must stop.

'€œThe most important thing is that fish should not be '€˜sent'€™ to General Santos. Fish from Sulawesi must be processed in Sulawesi,'€ she said.

Susi also expressed anger at the statement of General Santos Mayor Ronnel Rivera as reported by asiancorrespondent.com that Indonesian fishermen had no capacity to operate fishing vessels and relied on their Filipino counterparts.

Online media outlets reported that Indonesia'€™s efforts to combat illegal fishing affected not only tuna hand line fishermen, but also purse seine fishing operators and owners.

Bogor Institute of Agriculture Marine resource management expert Yonvitner said the government should build much-needed infrastructure to spur the growth of the fisheries industry in Bitung.

'€œIt should also provide tax incentives to fishermen and companies. Bigger incentives can be given to those that process the produce in Bitung and do not export raw materials,'€ he said.