Minister Susi Pudjiastuti Angered by Underreported Fish Catches
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31 January 2019 17:49 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Maritime and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti was angered by the habit shown by a number of people in the fishing industry - especially capture fisheries - that often falsely report or underreports their actual catch.
“Their exports, their catch, all of those are underreported. No way that a large fishing vessel of 150 tons reportedly filed an official catch of 20 tons. When [they're] told to fix that [report], then it was upgraded to 200 tons. Seriously,” said Minister Susi in front of the fishing industry business goers in a forum held at the Ministry’s headquarters.
The same goes to fishes caught with the pole and line fishing segment, which according to Susi, sees many businessmen claim to only catch 120 tons annually. There are also businessmen with 100 gross tonnage vessels claiming to only catch 70 tons.
“That might be okay if the Minister does not know anything about the ocean, but I was raised since a child at the seas. Even though I don’t own a fishing vessel, I know the [the workings] on the ocean,” said Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
She urged everyone involved in Indonesia’s fishery industry to respect and appreciate the government by providing accurate reports. “I had done everything that is necessary, but with zero appreciation. This is what angers me the most,” said Minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
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