Despite higher fish catches last year, state income from fishing declined considerably due primarily to the introduction of new fishing regulations as well as to unrealized fishing projects. According to a recent report from the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Ministry, non-tax revenue in the form of fees from seawater catches dropped by 44.6 percent last year to Rp 112.5 billion (US$12.5 million), from Rp 203.4 billion a year earlier. Last year's revenue also missed the government's target of Rp 200 billion. The decline was not in line with last year's higher seawater fishing catches, which according to the report soared by 9.5 percent to 4.94 million tons, with huge fishing vessels above 30 gross tons (GT) accounting for more than 50 percent of the catches. Analysts blamed the decline on the introduction of a 2006 ministerial decree on fishing businesses,...