Close the Illegal Fishing Loopholes

Simulation of the surveillance strategy for the fishing contract system is being carried out in Fisheries Management Area 718 which covers the Aru Sea, Arafura Sea and the eastern Timor Sea until the end of April 2022.

KOMPAS/TOTOK WIJAYANTO (TOK)

A fishing boat goes along the Angke River after looking for fish in the waters of the Thousand Islands, DKI Jakarta, Monday (4/4/2022). The small size of the ship's engine means that small fishermen can't go too far when looking for fish..

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The government has promised to prioritize transparency and improve supervision so that the implementation of the fishing contract system does not enable opportunities for illegal fishing practices that are very detrimental to small fishermen. The government will also close all regulatory loopholes that those in the rogue fishing business used to deceive the authorities in the past.

However, a number of parties expressed concern over the current fishing contract system. For one, the system allows for large spaces in which big ships and corporations may catch fish regardless of season. As a result, overexploitation can occur.

Director General of Capture Fisheries at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (KKP) Muhammad Zaini admitted that his party had not carried out much detailed dissemination of information to fishermen and fishery businesspeople about the contract system.

"The regulations for the fishing contract system have not yet been finalized; we have not implemented them. Implementation is the task of the government and requires supervision from the press and NGOs," said Zaini, in Jakarta on Monday.

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The fishing contract system is part of the policy for regulated fishing in the Indonesian fisheries management area (WPP). In this system, fishing quotas are not only offered to domestic business entities or cooperatives, but also to foreign investors with a 15-year contract period which can be extended.

Zaini added that the government had learned from the misbehavior of fishing businesses in the past to improve the current fishing contract system. His party is also committed to no longer giving permits to ships caught in cases of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

“There are several loopholes that in the past, businesspeople used to evade government regulations. Therefore, we have now closed some of them, including the problematic auctions of fishing vessels,” said Zaini.

KOMPAS/PANDU WIYOGA

Rustam's wooden boat (48) is returning home at sunset after catching tuna in waters about 45 kilometers east of Natuna Besar Island, Riau Islands, Saturday (26/3/2022).

Monitoring mechanisms at fishing ports are also provided, including analysis of catches from each ship that lands fish. All catches will be weighed and recorded openly at the port. For the initial stage, 128 units of digital-based scales connected to the recording system are prepared.

"The scales have been tested. One weighing takes 6 seconds. So, in 1 minute each scale can weigh 10 times. The results are directly recorded in the system," he said.

Director General of Marine and Fishery Resources Surveillance (PSDKP) KKP rear admiral TNI Adin Nurawaluddin said a simulation of the supervision strategy for the contract fishing contract system was being carried out in WPP 718, which covers the Aru Sea, Arafura Sea and the eastern Timor Sea, until the end of April 2022, by deploying surveillance vessels and airborne surveillance.

According to Adin, his party will also monitor the movement of large vessels so that they do not commit violations by entering the catch areas of small and traditional fishermen. Any violation will be dealt with strictly.

Dangerous

Chairman of the Indonesian Fisheries and Maritime University Leadership Forum La Sara, who is also the dean of the faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences at Halu Oleo University, Kendari, southeast Sulawesi, reminded that the entry of large investors, including foreign ones, supported by high technology, does not safeguard the areas of local fishermen from the incursion of large fishing vessels. Transfer of cargo in the middle of the sea (transshipment) will continue to occur.

“The fishing contracts are dangerous, as they amount to revealing that the state is lazy about managing fishery resources. It's so easy to give contracts for 15 years to foreign investors and big companies; however, we can't optimally monitor what's going on,” said La Sara.

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> Don't Ignore Fishermen

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Separately, the national coordinator of Destructive Fishing Watch (DFW) Indonesia, Muhammad Abdi Suhufan, noted that friction between industrial ships and fishermen’s fishing vessels was ongoing despite government’s regulation of catch zoning. The fishing contract system tends to continue providing space for large vessels and corporations to catch fish, regardless of the season. This is in contrast to the traditional wisdom of local fisherman, who catch according to the season and preserve resources. “Measured fishing with a long-term contract system enables uncontrolled exploitation. Instead of improving ecology, the fisheries economy is increasingly exploitative," he said.

A number of civil society organizations, all members of the Coalition for Sustainable Fisheries and Marines (Koral), also disagreed with the implementation of the fishing contract system in Feb. 2022. They are worried about excessive exploitation in the waters of the archipelago.

This article was translated by Hyginus Hardoyo.