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Natuna fishermen contend with foreign poachers – and now, local competition
Fishermen from the Natuna Islands have suffered periodic encroachments from foreign fishing vessels, but now they are facing stiff competition from their own compatriots.
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Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD (right) looks out onto Sekatung Island, the northernmost point in the Riau Islands province, during a visit to the outermost islands with Home Minister Tito Karnavian on Wednesday, Nov. 24. (Courtesy of the Office of the Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister/-)
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s a fisherman from Laut Island, the northernmost inhabitable place in Natuna regency, Riau Islands province, 46-year-old Asmareno says he often has run-ins with foreign fishing vessels, an experience he describes as “very disturbing”.
“They don’t bother us, but they do tell us to leave, which we do because we are afraid,” he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday, as members of the National Border Management Agency (BNPP) made a working visit to the island.
Located about six hours from Natuna’s capital of Ranai, Laut Island is home to some 2,200 people, most of whom are fishermen. It lies at the southern tip of the South China Sea, a highly strategic and resource-rich body of water upon which China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam have sometimes overlapping claims.
The island is adjacent to one of Indonesia’s most remote exclusive economic zone (EEZ) baseline markers, located in the North Natuna Sea, where curbing illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing remains a big challenge for the local authorities, as they regularly face encroachments from Malaysia, Vietnam and China.
But nowadays, Asmareno is also concerned about competing with fishermen from the northern coast of Java, who have started to overcrowd local fishing spots.
At a public discussion held on the island, Asmareno asked Home Minister Tito Karnavian and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD – both members of the BNPP – to assign the out-of-town fishermen to waters at least 30 miles away from Laut Island so they wouldn’t have to compete with each other for their catch.
Read also: First line of defense: Indonesia to populate Natuna waters with fishers
