VIVAnews - A number of Asian countries are appeared to have involved in fish theft on Indonesian waters. As a result, the country suffers from up to Rp 30 trillion (US$3.1 billion) of losses every year.
Directorate General of Fisheries and Marine Resources Supervision and Control, Aji Sularso, said that over the past three months the agency has successfully caught 185 foreign boats in 2007, which had caused Rp 435 billion of losses in 2008.There were also 242 boats which inflicted Rp 650 billion of losses.
Until 2009, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry (DKP) has arrested 120 foreign boats which entered the Indonesian waters. Thirty-two of them are currently being processed.
The seized boats would later be put to auction while the profit would go to the state for non-taxes income or the fishermen through legal processes.
“So far, we’ve only processed 32 boats while some others have been detained,” Sularso said.
According to DKP, there are three areas of waters which are prone to illegal fishing such as the Natuna waters in North Sulawesi that are adjacent to the Philippines and Arafuru waters.
Regarding the losses inflicted by the foreign fishermen, the estimation were obtained by calculating the amount of Indonesia’s fish stock which reaches 6.4 million tons per year.
There are 1.6 million tons of lost fish due to theft and disposal. Thus, if the price of the fish at the international market reaches US$ 200 per ton, it could exceed Rp 30 trillion. That is why the Department has assigned 23 patrolling boats throughout Indonesian waters.
“Every time we catch a foreign boat stealing fish on Indonesian waters, we always count up the losses. Therefore, we are going to address this issue at the Regional Plan of Action (RPOA) meeting in which 10 Asian countries will be participating today,“ Sularso said at the RPOA meeting in Senggigi, West Lombok on Wednesday, November 4.
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Translated by: Nataya Ermanti
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