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Fisheries industry asks govt to review policy
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Fishermen in Aceh lift a yellow fin tuna in Krueng Aceh Port in Banda Aceh on Aug. 27. Fishermen have caught fewer tuna for export in the past two weeks as a result of bad weather and high tides. (Antara/Ampelsa)
The fisheries industry has asked the government to review a policy on ships that it claims has crippled business.
Businesspeople with the Indonesia Fishery Industry Association (Gappindo) said they had seen a significant drop in exports and production after the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry put in place a moratorium on the use of foreign-made vessels.
The moratorium, which was implemented from November 2014 to October 2015, froze the operation of vessels with a capacity of 30 gross tons (GT). The ministry required them to undergo permit audits and demanded that their presence be replaced by locally made vessels.
(Read also: Anti-illegal fishing measures show results, time to cut red tape: Jokowi)
As many as 1,132 ships were pulled from operations during the period of the moratorium. Some 500 ships have been cleared in the audit, but the ministry is standing its ground and obliging locals to only use locally made ships.
“We have no choice but to sell the 500 ships, but it’s hard to find buyers from abroad. We ask the government to review its policy because we bought the ships legally, but now the sudden change in regulation has brought us difficulties,” Gappindo chairman Herwindo said after meeting with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin)
recently.
Businesspeople said production and exports had dropped significantly within the past couple of years and they questioned Central Statistics Agency (BPS) data showing a positive trend in the industry.
According to the Indonesian Marine Fish Farming Association (Abilindo), the production of groupers is projected to drop to 1,000 tons this year from 4,000 tons in 2014, while the Indonesian Tuna Association (Astuin) said tuna export volumes to Japan dropped by half to 7.5 million kilograms in 2015 from 2014.
BPS data, however, shows the overall industry grew 6.06 percent year-on-year in the second quarter compared to the same period in 2015.
Gappindo members also said the local shipyard industry could build vessels with a capacity of up to around 200 GT, but at higher price tags compared to what was offered overseas.
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo held on Tuesday a limited Cabinet meeting at the State Palace to discuss the issue.
“I have asked the coordinating maritime affairs minister and the maritime affairs and fisheries minister to take steps to accelerate the development of the fishing industry. Just remove complicated procedures that hinder investments,” he said.
The President has issued a presidential instruction to accelerate the fisheries industry but the implementation of it remains uncertain.
