In the fishery industry, the name Tex Suryawijaya is quite well-known. In the records of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, he is listed as the Semarang-born owner of the Pusaka Benjina Group, which operates a total of 96 boats out of Thailand. But since the moratorium became effective, 33 of them have not returned to port, avoiding the Indonesian waters.
The ownership of the foreign boats operated by Pusaka Benjina may be problematic, although Tex denied that his company avoided regulations. "Everything can be verified with certificates of the boats' change of ownership," Tex claimed, at an interview in Jakarta, two weeks ago. Throughout the interview, he was accompanied by Ahmad Jauzi and Legiman Soetrisno, executives of Pusaka Benjina Resources. A number of times, Jauzi joined in answering.