Granting Access to Foreign Ships Threatens Fisheries

KOMPAS/FRANSISKUS PATI HERIN

Four foreign-flagged vessels are anchored in Ambon Bay off the coast of Ambon municipality, Maluku, as seen on 22 Jan. 2019. Hundreds of vessels registered in foreign countries were held in Ambon Bay after they were banned from operating and confiscated by then-maritime affairs minister Susi Pudjiastuti (2014-2019) for using environmentally harmful fishing nets.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The granting of business licenses to fishing vessels with foreign flags to enter Indonesia\'s exclusive economic zone (ZEEI) as stipulated in the Job Creation Law is poor policy. Opening access to fishing by foreign vessels will worsen the condition of fish stocks and impact the competitiveness of local fishermen.

Business licenses for foreign fishing vessels are regulated in the Work Creation Bill, which is related to an amendment of Law No. 31/2004 on Fisheries in conjunction with Law No. 45/2009. In Article 27 of the Job Creation Law (the draft consisting of 812 pages), fishing vessels with foreign flags operating in Indonesia\'s exclusive economic zone are required to have business licenses from the central government.

Article 27 of the Job Creation Law also abolishes the provisions in the Fisheries Law that require foreign-flag fishing vessels operating on the ZEEI to have at least 70 percent of their crew consist of Indonesians. Moreover, there is a change in the definition of small fishermen that does not limit the size of ships. Small fishermen are defined those who fish to obtain livelihoods for daily living needs, with or without fishing vessels.

Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI) director of international cooperation and policy reform Stephanie Juwana said opening access to fishing by foreign vessels in the ZEEI could worsen the condition of fish stocks for national interests. Indonesian fishermen and Indonesian citizens must receive priority in obtaining benefits from fishery resources in the ZEEI in accordance with the mandate of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution.

The catch surplus can only be given to other countries if Indonesia does not have the capacity to utilize the allowable catch.

The opening of permits for foreign vessels does not fulfill the requirements of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which is mandated by Law No. 17/1985 on UNCLOS ratification. Other countries\' access to fish stocks in the ZEEI can only be done through traditional fishing rights and a surplus of allowable catch. The catch surplus can only be given to other countries if Indonesia does not have the capacity to utilize the allowable catch.

The problem is that Indonesia is still facing the challenge of food shortages and chronic malnutrition (stunting). Fish resources are a solution to this problem. Therefore, access to the use of the ZEEI should be intended for solving problems of food and malnutrition and not given to other countries.

"The granting of licensing concessions to foreign fishing vessels in the ZEEI is a very wrong policy," said Stephanie on Tuesday (13/10/2020).

KOMPAS/LUKAS ADI PRASETYA

Two Malaysian-flagged vessels, the motorized ship (KM) Teluk Cowie and the KM Naga Mas, are destroyed on 5 April 2016 in the waters off Tarakan Island in North Kalimantan. The two wooden ships were confiscated for illegal fishing in the sea near Karang Unarang, Nunukan regency, North Kalimantan.

Stephanie added that the Job Creation Law removed provisions that obligated foreign fishing vessels operating in the ZEEI to have 70 percent of their crew composed of Indonesians. As a result, she said, foreign crew members would flourish as in the 2000-2014 era, when foreign crews from Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand worked on Thai fishing vessels domiciled in Indonesia. This has the potential to eliminate opportunities for Indonesian citizens to work on foreign ships in ZEEI waters.

"As a result, Indonesian workers become migrant workers on foreign fishing vessels abroad, who are currently very vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking and modern slavery on these vessels," said Stephanie.

People\'s Coalition for Fisheries Justice (KIARA) secretary general Susan Herawati rejected the Job Creation Law as well. Efforts to open access to foreign-flagged fishing vessels, the transportation of fish by these vessels in Indonesian waters and the absence of the obligation to employ Indonesian crew members could trigger transshipment crimes at sea. "This provides a great opportunity for foreigners to invest and exploit fish resources on a large scale," she said.

The chairman of the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Maritime Intellectuals Association, Zulficar Mochtar, said the policy of a moratorium on foreign vessels and the closure of capture fisheries investment for foreigners in the 2014-2019 period had grown the domestic fisheries business and had increased national fish stocks. The use of modern and large-scale fishing gear by foreign vessels for decades had drained Indonesia\'s fish resources.

"It is feared that large-scale fishing will kill the people\'s fishing business, which is currently growing with its own capital and strength," said Zulficar, who is also the former director general of capture fisheries at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, in a press statement.

He feared that foreign fishing operations in the ZEEI would violate catch zones for domestic vessels and local fishermen.

The chairman of the Central Executive Board of the Indonesian Fishermen Alliance, Riyono, said that the elimination of the provision for foreign-flagged vessels to employ domestic crew members would make it more difficult to control the utilization of the ZEEI. He feared that foreign fishing operations in the ZEEI would violate catch zones for domestic vessels and local fishermen.

Government regulations

Separately, the acting director general of capture fisheries at the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Mohammad Zaini, said that foreign fishing vessels had been previously regulated under the Fisheries Law as a part of the ratification of UNCLOS. However, the government no longer granted permits for fishing vessels under foreign flags.

He added that the government would still prohibit permits for foreign fishing vessels so that provisions related to the obligations of Indonesian crew members on foreign vessels would be automatically abolished in the Job Creation Law. However, the government would open opportunities for foreign vessels to fish on the high seas according to the provisions of the regional fisheries management organization (RFMO) to take advantage of the ZEEI with the obligation to unload fish at domestic fishing ports.

"The detailed formulation will be contained in a government regulation which is targeted for completion by the end of October. The government will hold public discussions," he said.

Zaini added that the definition of foreign fishing vessels was different from foreign-made vessels. Foreign-made vessels were vessels registered in Indonesia with Indonesian flags and owned by Indonesians. Meanwhile, foreign ships were owned by foreigners and registered in their countries of origin.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO

Crates of frozen fish are ready for transporting to a refrigerated warehouse on 4 Oct. 2020 at Muara Angke Port in North Jakarta. The fish were caught in the Karimata Strait, which lies to the northeast of South Sumatra, between Belitung Island and West Kalimantan province.

CEO of the Indonesian Ocean Justice initiative (IOJI) Mas Achmad Santosa said that Indonesia had to reflect on the positive impact of the ban on all foreign fishing vessels in the 2014-2019 period. In the 2000-2014 period, rampant licensing of foreign vessels set a bad precedent for fish resource stocks and hit the competitiveness of national fishing. "If foreign fishing vessels are not allowed to operate in the ZEEI, this rule should be abolished from the Job Creation Law. There should be no tricks," he said.