Indonesia’s marine and fisheries ministry’s policy to allow the transfer of cargo (transhipment) of fish caught from the boat 1000 GT out of the country is increasingly making Indonesia lose competitiveness.

The setting of the control fish in the sea cargo is contained in the Minister of Marine and Fisheries (Candy-KP) Number 30 Year 2012 on Business fisheries in Regional Fisheries Management RI, passed on December 27, 2012.

Article 69 Paragraph (1) Candy-KP 30/2012 states that any fishing vessel can conduct transhipment to fishing vessels and/or vessel transporting fish.

Article 69 Paragraph (3) mentions that the cargo of fish for fishing vessels weighing over 1,000 gross tons (GT) with a purse ring gear (purse seine) operated singly shall not be landed at the port base, and fish can be transported abroad.

Member of the Board of Trustees of the Unitary Indonesian Traditional Fishermen, Riza Damanik, argues that the permissibility of 1000 GT ships to transfer cargo of fish to be taken abroad will only facilitate foreign ships to master the open waters of the exclusive economic zones of Indonesia (ZEEI). So far, the Indonesian government has never issued a permit to fishing vessels weighing 1000 GT.

He added that these foreign ships have already reached Indonesian waters, particularly on the high seas. Meanwhile, local fishing boats had been required to land the fish in the harbor. Letting ships of 1000 GT to transport fish overseas will hit the waters of Indonesia’s sovereignty.

“Indonesia will never be able to rise up to manage fisheries on the high seas,” he said.

Separately, Minister of Marine and Fisheries, Cicip Sutardjo Sharif, said Indonesia has not had a large ship on the high seas, so permission for ships weighing 1000 GT is given in order to keep the waters of Indonesia, such as ZEEI.