Antara News, Monday, October 25, 2010
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Maritime and Fishery Minister Fadel Muhammad said on Monday that his ministry was about to process the withdrawal of the permits of about 200 foreign fishing vessels operating in Indonesia`s territorial waters.
"There are some 200 ships with foreign flags on which a process is underway for the withdrawal of their operating permits," said the minister, adding that the main reason for the action was the fact that the owners of the ships had not set up fish processing facilities in Indonesia as required.
The ships belong to companies in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and China.
In addition, he said, there were also foreign fishing boats that were catching fish in Indonesia`s territorial waters but selling their catches in border areas after transferring their catches to mother ships they operate.
The fisheries ministry, he said, had coordinated with the Indonesian navy in monitoring the practice.
There are currently a total of 700 fishing vessels flying foreign flags operating in Indonesian territorial waters.
Annulment of the permits would be done as Indonesia wants to have added value from fishery products caught inside Indonesian territory and therefore the catches by foreign fishing boats must be be processed in Indonesia.
Ministerial Decree No 17/2006 stipulates that the catches of foreign fishing vessels will be recorded in the future so that more accurate information on the fisheries industry can be gathered. Fish catches will no longer be allowed to be shipped out of Indonesia without being recorded.
