Fishing Industry Losing Billions to Foreign Raiders

Eliswan Azly/Antara

April 6, 2009
In the run-up to the upcoming World Ocean Conference in Manado, North Sulawesi Province, Indonesia has been urged to make use of the event to ask other countries to stop illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing.

“The government should make use of the opportunity to secure a commitment against illegal fishing,” Riza Damanik, secretary general of the People’s Coalition for Fishery Justice, told a press briefing.

Riza said the government had to abandon its risky diplomacy of expecting aid funds for the rehabilitation of coral reefs to fight global warming.

The government, Riza said, needs to act wisely by making use of the WOC on May 11-15 to demand other countries stop poaching in Indonesia.

In the past decade, fishing vessels from 10 countries had been caught poaching in Indonesian waters, including from Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Korea, China, Taiwan, Panama, Burma and Malaysia.

“The crisis in our seas is related to [fishing] crimes committed in the seas. Because of illegal fishing we have lost 50 percent of our marine resources,” Riza said, without mentioning a source for his figures.

‘It’s our water and our fish, but we’re losing out. It’s ridiculous.’ said Sarwono Kusumaatmadja, former maritime minister

The chairman of the Anti-Debt Coalition, Dani Setiawan, said Indonesia must be able to control its territorial waters.

The country must not use the WOC to seek foreign loans related to climate change issues because he feared that would make the country lose control of its seas, he said.

Aji Sularso, the director general of supervision and control of marine resources and fishery, said earlier that most vessels conducting illegal fishing in the country’s waters were from Thailand and Vietnam.

Earlier, former Minister of Maritime Exploration Sarwono Kusumaatmadja said illegal fishing by foreigners in Indonesian waters had cost the country an estimated $4 billion in revenue every year.

Sarwono noted that foreigners were getting more of Indonesia’s maritime resources than Indonesians themselves, as the country only earned some $2.2 billion from its fishing sector.

“It’s our water and our fish, but we’re losing out. It’s ridiculous,” he said.

More tragic, Aji said, was that the poachers have shown no fear of Indonesian patrols, which were either outnumbered or poorly armed.

“Illegal fishermen show no respect for our national law. A shoot-and-sink policy should be part of a show of force to deter them,” Aji said.

He said illegal fishing was out of control and was “threatening Indonesia’s economic and territorial sovereignty.”

The Indonesian government has been criticized for being “too lenient” in allowing Filipino fishermen to repatriate and reunite with their families. They would usually give one of two reasons for doing so — humanitarian reasons or a lack of funds to provide basic needs and shelter.

Meanwhile, hundreds of confiscated foreign fishing vessels are now crowding dozens of seaports across the country. They are corroding, if not sinking, while waiting for legal processing.

Antara