The Indonesian tuna canning industry, which is a natural export earner for Indonesia, complained that the capacity utilization rate of canned fish products is only 30 percent of the annual 400,000-ton installed capacity.
Roy Harnuputra, the export manager of PT Sadewa Dinamika Samudera, a fishing concern with cold storage and processing plants in Manado, said there seems to be less mackerel and sardines for canning in recent years although Indonesian waters are teeming with fresh stocks. "It's ironic that while we are blessed with abundant sea resources like tuna, mackerel and sardines, we seem to record lower catches by almost 40 percent since 2000. The high exports by illegal trawlers are affecting our canning business, [as] exporters are able to get higher prices for their illegal exports instead of selling to local processors like us," complained Roy.
"When you compare Thailand to Indonesia, you see vast difference in the way the Thais and the Indonesians manage their natural resources," remarked Adam. "In Thailand the talk is on optimization and managing their limited sea produce and catches. But in Indonesia the greater concern is how much money you can make in the shortest possible time. Although corruption exists at most levels of the government decision making process whether in Thailand or Indonesia, we seem to be on the losing end, especially the fisherman."
The giant Indonesian archipelago enjoys enormous potential fishery resources, as yet under-exploited by the legal fishing industry. However, illegal fishing is threatening this potential.
The fishery resources of Indonesian waters and coastal areas are estimated at about 6.7 million ton per year. The official exploitation of this resource in 2001 totaled only 3.9 million tons, or about 60 percent of the annual sustainable yield. Adam A S, the head of the South Sulawesi Fishing Cooperative (PUSKOPIN), says the annual sustainable yield has not risen above an estimated 5 million tons. "There is still much room for growth," he said.
The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) maintained in its annual report last year that 15 of the world's 17 major ocean fisheries are either depleted or over-exploited. Although Indonesia does not fall into that category, it may face soon face similar problems, said Adam.
"Illegal commercial fishing is the No 1 threat to us in the fishing business. While we remain passive to this crime, Indonesia is robbed an estimated US$1.5 billion to US$2.4 billion of income per annum. We need to protect our fishing grounds and impose stiff penalties to those that go out of their way to break the law," he said.
That is by far the greatest challenge to the Indonesian Fishing Association and in fact a sore point for the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries. It has largely been unable to deal with this problem because of limited resources. Reports that the province of North Sulawesi has lost about Rp5 trillion ($55.5 million) to illegal fishing is starting to gnaw away some of the hopes that the Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries and the Indonesian Fishing Association would be more proactive in enforcing the law.
Its been estimated that Indonesia exports $4 billion to $5 billion worth of seafood annually and only 30-40 percent of this is actually accounted for by the government. More has to be done for the preservation of aquaculture and in developing the seafood industry as one of Indonesia's prime export earners. The costs of economic negligence are considerable, for Indonesia cannot afford to neglect its rich natural sea resource.
Illegal vessels, mostly registered in Australia, China or Thailand, sneak into Indonesian territorial waters catching the navy patrols off guard. This problem has accelerated in recent years as the international prices of skipjack and yellowfin tuna as well as other seafood such as shrimp and lobster have steadily climbed. "Demand has far outstripped supply in recent years. Even canning plants are finding it difficult to cope with the demand for canned seafood," said Effendi Mahmod, a private businessman who supplies tuna and other seafood to the Middle East and South Korean markets.
A greater concern for the government is the fact that there are not enough navy patrol vessels to thwart the attempts of illegal fishermen. According to Indonesian senior marine officials, at least 80 naval vessels are needed to patrol Indonesian waters adequately, especially off the north of Sulawesi in the Celebes Sea. However, the Indonesian navy can rarely spare more than six vessels to fend off intruders. And each year it has been estimated that at least 3,000 Thai vessels alone enter Indonesian waters without proper licensing fees or payment of taxes. The Indonesian Maritime Association maintains that last year alone, Thai vessels avoided paying license fees amounting $75 million to $90 million.
Those same Thai vessels evade annual taxes worth about $30 million to $60 million, equivalent to about 2.5 percent of the value of their catch.
An official with Institutional Capacity and Marketing at the Indonesian Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries said there is some hope that more patrol vessels will be added to the North Sulawesi region. But another problem the ministry faces is the fact that many of its officials are found to be receiving bribes to allow foreign vessels to operate in their national waters. "For [about] $10,000-$20,000, you can get forged papers instead of paying $25,000-$30,000 for permits meant for standard vessels. For larger vessels like 300-ton trawlers, the fee is about $55,000 per year," said Ridwan Yakob, a retired naval official based in Manado, North Sulawesi. "Also by getting these forged permits you would ... be exempt from paying the 2.5 percent tax that is considered an export tax," he said.
But putting an end to graft is easier said than done. Indonesia's territorial waters and Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) cover a total area of 5.8 million square kilometers. And whatever happens in the sea is difficult to monitor and prove from Jakarta.