TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The decline in the number of fishing boats since the government imposed the moratorium has exposed the main cause of the massive fishing theft in Indonesian waters, and that is the gross manipulation of the licensing process. Through the moratorium, which took effect on November 6 last year, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti halted all new licenses and is now reviewing the licenses of fishing boats weighing over 30 gross tons, until next April.
This policy requires all boats to return to their port of origin pending a review or a verification of their ownership. The objective is to ensure the legality of the boat's identity and their operating licenses. Another goal is to catch boats operating under illegally-issued licenses. Tempo's investigative report clearly shows that the sudden disappearance of hundreds of Indonesian-flagged boats over the nation's waters is nothing more than an attempt to avoid verification, because their licenses will turn out to be fakes. Many boats flying Indonesian flags are now moored in Thai ports because their owners are unquestionably local citizens there.
Massive manipulation was possible because of the weak oversight in issuing licenses. This involved three parties: the original foreign owners, Indonesian companies which played along with the 'fake' purchase to fulfil the Indonesian nationality requirement and Immigration officials who turned a blind eye to these irregular licenses, for a bribe of Rp125 million per boat.
The result has been unbelievably massive fishing theft. The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry estimates that 70 percent of 1,200 foreign boats operate with valid but illicitly-obtained licenses, resulting in near depletion of fish resources in Indonesian waters. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), at least Rp50 trillion worth of illegal fishing per year is carried out in Indonesian waters. Minister Susi is convinced the numbers are closer to Rp3,000 trillion each year. This is higher than the 2015 State Budget of Rp2,039 trillion.
Unquestionably, this immense loss can be traced to fishing that is illegal, unreported and not in accordance with regulations. It is truly ironic that while other countries battle these three crimes, in Indonesia they dominate the fishing industry, through foreign boats pretending to be Indonesian.
The government has long neglected or knew but pretended not to know for various reasons the problem of illegal fishing. From 1970 to 1980, foreign boats were able to operate in Indonesian waters through joint ventures with local companies. A decade later, the foreign boats were allowed to fish as rented boats. These two policies increased illegal fishing but the authorities seemed to have ignored it or never knew about it. When the 2009 Law on Fisheries banned foreign boats from fishing in Indonesian waters, the method of fishing illegally 'morphed' into a system of using manipulated licenses.
Minister Susi cannot work alone in the attempt to expose this fishing industry mafia in Indonesia. The navy and the police forces must upgrade their coordination so that the fight against massive fish theft can be better executed. The sinking of foreign boats has led to positive results, but that alone is not enough. Stricter oversight and tightening of licensing procedures must be seriously implemented, both upstream and downstream.
A sea that is safe from thieves will motivate local fishermen to catch more, so they can fill the supply void caused by the moratorium. Our fishermen should be given the chance to prosper in their own marine environment. (*)
