Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Unitary Indonesian Traditional Fishermen (KNTI) M. Rizal Damanik is of the viewpoint that 30 per cent losses from illegal fishing in the world have occurred in Indonesia.
“So, according to the report of the FAO Fisheries and Aquaculture Department, illegal fishing has caused losses worth US$23 billion. About 30 per cent of illegal fishing in the world occurred in Indonesia,” Damanik noted here on Friday.
Rizal reported that illegal fishing in Indonesia has caused Rp100 trillion worth of losses to the state each year.
“The exploitation of Indonesian marine resources is a tremendous loss to the state,” he noted.
Because of these losses, he pointed out that the image of Indonesias fisheries and maritime sector has become tainted because Indonesia has been tolerant enough to allow illegal fishing practices to flourish.
“We then show the world that our government does not encourage fisheries resources due to illegal fishing practices that disturb the sustainable management of marine resources,” Rizal emphasized.
He remarked that the illegal fishing trend will have negative implications on Indonesia considering the fact that fisheries are one of the key food resources of the country.
Moreover, he stated that the next government will face three challenges in the maritime sector. The first challenge is coordinating the state budget for the maritime sector by encouraging the welfare of fishermen and marine economic sovereignty.
“The second is sectoral management of natural resources that causes losses in marine and fisheries. The role and functions of the maritime sector is only calculated on the basis of economic contribution and land area as an indicator of mobilisation of the state resources,” he added.
The third challenge faced is the lack of participation by fishing organizations, farmers, and coastal people in drafting a public policy.
