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Susi calls for global action to ban transhipment on high seas
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Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti says it will take a global commitment and international cooperation to effectively eradicate irregular, unreported and unregulated fishing and other crimes, like human trafficking, on the high seas. (JP/Wienda Parwitasari)
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aritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has said countries should start to consider redefining governance on the high seas and imposing a complete ban on transhipment to curb illegal fishing.
Susi added that it would take a global commitment and international cooperation to effectively eradicate irregular, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing and other crimes, like human trafficking, on the high seas or international waters, which make up about 61 percent of the world’s surface.
“No single country can do it [curb IUU fishing on the high seas] because [its] resources will not be enough,” Susi said on Wednesday while presenting a public lecture at Columbia University in New York.
“So it needs commitment and international institutions, a kind of UN [United Nations] body guarding the high seas.”
An undergraduate international politics student named Melissa asked Susi whether increasing surveillance on the high seas could prevent IUU fishing.
“I would say not only surveillance [that is important[, but also enforcement [to effectively combat IUU fishing on the high seas],” Susi replied.
The Jakarta Post joined the visit to New York under an official invitation from the ministry.
The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO), Susi said, had a good initiative to not only curb illegal fishing, but also help prevent illegal transhipment at sea through the its Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA) -- the first binding international agreement to specifically target IUU fishing.
The PSMA requires countries to conduct port inspections of fishing vessels, regardless the status of their flags, to prevent illegal catches from landing up in ports.
So far, 50 countries, including Indonesia, have signed the agreement, which came into effect in 2016.
Last year, during the Our Ocean Conference in Malta, the FAO urged all countries to join the PSMA, which it described as one of the most cost-effective ways to curb IUU fishing.
