Global Agency Needed to Organize Marine Protection: Minister

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The world needs an independent global agency to organize marine protection, Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said in the UN Ocean Conference in New York, United States.

"The designated agency should monitor the marine life including fishes and coral reefs living in it, particularly from the practice of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing," she noted in a press release received by ANTARA on Sunday.

As the ocean covers about 71 percent of the earths surface, it is the duty of the world to fulfil the rights of the ocean to maintain its marine resources.

According to Pudjiastuti, better efforts are needed to maintain the ocean to ensure that the utilization of marine products will not threaten the sustainability of the countrys natural resources.

To that end, she advised other countries to encourage fishermen to use safe tool and methods of snatching fishes, as well as not to drain migrating broodstocks to their breeding zones.

"When the broodstocks do not return to their breeding zones, the babies will not be born, causing the worlds lack of fish stocks," Pudjiastuti said.

The need to protect the open seas is in line with the effort to protect small-scale industries as the sea and its resources are significant to improve the quality of fishermens life.

Last but not least, Minister Pudjiastuti urged the world to work together in fighting the IUU fishing as it is an organized transnational crime which is sometimes linked to trafficking, drug smuggling, illegal fuel oil transactions and endangered animal smuggling.

"We need to ensure that organized transnational fishery crimes are recognized in the UN General Assembly resolution. We also need an independent team of experts who will recommend plans to institutionalize organized transnational fishery crimes and to encourage recognition under the UN General Assembly Resolution Document," she said.(*)