The End of Foreign Fishing Boats?

THE two-page official memo represents nothing less than a death sentence for foreign and ex-foreign ships operating in Indonesian waters. Signed by Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Secretary-General Sjarief Widjaja on February 11, the memos have closed all the chances of these ships' owners to resume operations. They must now undergo mandatory deregistration.

This is not unreasonable if the government intends to allow only local fishing vessels to exploit our maritime resources. So far, ex-foreign and foreign boats have been free to aroam our seas, particularly the open sea, trenches and the borders. These boats, weighing more than 30 gross tons, operate freely despite their disregard of the law. The ministry notes that the Rp30 quintillion losses annually incurred by the state was due to illegal fishing.