Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The Ministry of Marine and Fisheries and the Indonesian Navy recently sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to provide joint sea supervisory activities during the next five years.
"The MoU and the government's recent decision to ban transshipment on the sea will help restructure Indonesia's marine management for the better," said Minister of Marine and Fisheries¿ Susi Pudjiastuti here on Monday.
Among the contents of the MoU were the commitment from the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries and the Indonesia Navy to jointly increase supervisory patrols on the sea in the next five years. Both institutions also agreed to exchange data related to marine and fishery affairs, hold joint training and joint surveys in the next five years.
Earlier, the joint forces consisting of the water police and officials from the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry had seized 35 foreign ships illegally entering Indonesian waters from January to November 2014.
According to data from the ministry, the 35 seized ships were from Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
Minister Susi said tight supervision was the key to preventing foreign ships from illegally entering Indonesian territory and exploiting the nations fish resources.
"The efforts to reduce illegal fishing have been conducted through a close cooperation between related sea authorities," said Susi.
Susi cited an example of the strict patrolling conducted on the Natuna sea. She said the Natuna sea would be free from illegal fishing boats within six months.
Apart from securing Indonesian waters from illegal foreign ships, Susi also emphasized the importance of improving fishery management in Indonesia by creating a season for commercial fishing, which was expected to ensure the availability of fish throughout the year.
"Another important effort to improve our fishery management is by increasing the tax from large-sized ships, providing subsidies for fishery-related credits, erasing taxes imposed upon traditional fishermen and improving regulations on investment in the fishery sector," said Susi.
On the international level, Indonesia had asked its partner countries to cooperate in combating illegal fishing. (WDY)
