Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono underscored the importance of sustainability in the fisheries industry to ensure that Indonesia becomes a nation with a strong sea and maritime industry.

With over 17,000 islands spanning over 6.4 million square kilometers of territorial waters, the country is well-placed to become a regional and even global player, he said.

“The sustainable management of seas and coastal areas is a must; a balance must be struck between the exploitation of maritime resources as an economic activity and the good health of our sea and coastal ecosystems,” Sakti said in a pre-recorded speech for The Jakarta Post’s webinar titled “Oceans and us: Working together toward sustainable fisheries”, on Tuesday.

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Blue economy is a macroeconomic term referring to the use of marine resources for sustainable economic growth and the improvement of people's welfare.

The minister said he had put forward several priority programs to be implemented until 2024, which include increasing non-tax revenue in the fisheries sector to improve the welfare of the nation’s fishermen.

As part of this move, Sakti said he had designated fisheries management area (WPP) 714, which is located around the Banda Sea in Maluku, as an exclusive spawning and breeding area for fish populations.

He said officials were also developing export-oriented fish husbandry hubs by improving and “revitalizing” tambak rakyat (communal fish ponds).

Additionally, the ministry is currently promoting decrees and regulations that follow up on changes in the fisheries sector that were made under the 2020 Job Creation Law.

However, a panel of experts are saying that the state should also be looking at other ways of achieving a sustainable ocean economy, including by putting small-scale fishing at the forefront instead of the more resourceful industry players.

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Indonesia still needed to address commonplace “ocean injustices” by improving the livelihoods of small-scale fishers and working on inclusive governance and human rights, said Stephanie Juwana, director for international engagement and policy reform for the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI).

Part of the solution is to know the exact ecological health status of the nation’s waters and how much economic potential they have, as well as how to fairly distribute it all.

“We can’t manage our ocean sustainably without first knowing how much potential we have,” Stephanie said during the webinar.

She said Indonesia needed to start openly tracking vessel data to see how many were actually operating in the country and find out who was poaching illegally.

“Access to this kind of information is our constitutional right as citizens, in addition to ensuring effective public participation [in fishing policies],” she said.

Indonesia’s maritime sector has for years been mired in inconsistent data and opaque governance, which has led to a number of controversial debates and even a criminal case against Minister Sakti’s predecessor.

Prosecutors sought a sentence of five years in prison for former fisheries minister Edhy Prabowo on Tuesday over a bribery scandal that saw attempts to allow the export of lobster seed, a heavily disputed policy that purportedly prevents local industries from benefiting from a hot commodity.

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Another panelist, Bustar Maitar, who is CEO of EcoNusa Foundation, criticized the jobs law for erasing an important distinction between small-scale fishers and industry-level players, which grants the latter eligibility for state subsidies based on vessel tonnage.

“This will threaten our sea ecosystem that is supposed to become a sustainable source of livelihood,” Bustar said.

Activists have warned of the threat posed by the jobs law, which is heavy on luring new investments and revises several provisions in the 2004 law on fisheries and the 2016 law on protection for small-scale fishermen.

In particular, it no longer distinguishes between fishermen with large boats and those with small boats, which critics say may put small-scale fishermen in an unfair competition with larger fishermen.

Arifsyah Nasution, who works as ocean campaign leader for Greenpeace Southeast Asia, cited a joint study with the Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) which found that Indonesian migrant workers employed on foreign fishing vessels have had to endure forced labor practices.

“Our migrant fishers already endure forced labor on foreign-flagged vessels, so we can’t discount the possibility that such practices are also prevalent here [in the country],” the webinar panelist said on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry has been lobbying for better protections in countries where Indonesian migrant workers are employed in the fisheries sector. Most recently, the calls were made in talks with South Korean officials.

Meanwhile, Hawis Madduppa, a marine biodiversity scientist from Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), said that Indonesia’s ocean ecosystem is in a precarious situation, as it faces threats ranging from coral reef degradation to unsustainable fishing practices, such as the overfishing top-of-chain predators like sharks and groupers.

To better protect the ecosystem, Hawis also said that the country needs to have a better database on marine life. “We can only conserve and regulate what we know,” he said.

Editor’s Note: Article updated with additional commentary.

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