KKP Says There Are No Foreign Boats Catching Fish In National Waters

Illustration - Traditional fisherman. ANTARA/HO-KKP

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) said that there were no foreign fishing vessels operating legally to catch fish in national waters because all of them had to be Indonesian companies.

“So there are no foreign companies entering to catch fish. There are Indonesian legal entities, if they have capital, that's natural, so there are no foreign ships entering Indonesia," said the Director General of Capture Fisheries at the KKP Muhammad Zaini in Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Thursday, December 30.

According to Zaini, all fishing vessels operating are only intended for Indonesian fishermen.

In other words, Zaini emphasized that measurable fishing in WPPNRI was only carried out by Indonesian fishermen.

According to him, the government will provide the widest opportunity and protection for local and traditional fishing business actors in their respective fishing areas.

As reported, the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono expressed his optimism that a measured fishing policy that uses a zoning and quota system will provide a sense of security for fishermen who go to sea.

"Because through this policy, violations of fishing areas that can trigger social conflicts between fishermen can be minimized," said Sakti Wahyu Trenggono.

Thus, according to him, in the future there should be no more fishermen being arrested in a State Fisheries Management Area of the Republic of Indonesia because fishermen have their own quota mechanism.

Regarding local fishermen, KKP has also prepared the Advanced Fisherman Village Program and Aquaculture Village in 2022 to eradicate extreme poverty in coastal areas.

The KKP stated that the Kampung Nelayan Maju Program would target 120 districts/cities, 50 of which fall under the criteria for extreme poverty. Then there are 130 regencies/cities for the development of the Aquaculture Village Program, of which 53 are extreme poor areas.

The entire region is spread across 25 provinces, a far cry from the realization of the extreme poverty reduction program in 2021 which targets seven provinces. In 2021, the budget for extreme poverty reduction programs will reach Rp. 174.06 billion, which is sourced from the APBN, DAK and BLU.

Minister Trenggono explained that eradicating extreme poverty is a national agenda so that its implementation is carried out in collaboration with other government ministries/agencies. For the improvement of fishing port infrastructure and fishermen's settlements, for example, KKP cooperates with the Ministry of PUPR.

Collaboration is also carried out for providing business capital, providing fuel and energy, health and employment insurance, education, strengthening business institutions through fishermen's cooperatives, to health facilities.