Minister Trenggono: Measured Arrest Policy Becomes A New Era

Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono. ANTARA/HO-KKP

JAKARTA - The Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Sakti Wahyu Trenggono stated that the measured fishing policy, which will be implemented in 2022, will bring the marine and fisheries sector into a new era with many positive impacts.

"Through this measured fishing, we want to bring fisheries in the country into a new era that is more advanced, more prosperous, more just, and more sustainable," said Minister Trenggono as quoted by Antara, Saturday, February 5.

According to him, there will be many positive impacts from implementing a measured fishing policy, especially for eastern Indonesia.

The various positive impacts, he said, ranged from the growth of new businesses that had an impact on employment, to even distribution of economic growth in coastal areas so that they were no longer concentrated on the island of Java.

He explained that the measured fishing policy changed the input control approach to an output control approach, where control was carried out by implementing a fishing quota and zoning system so that the utilization of fish resources could be in accordance with their carrying capacity.

In addition, he said, the fishing quota will be given to investors, local fishermen and hobbyists. Meanwhile, the fishing zone will be divided into six zones, including the spawning zone and nursery ground.

According to him, the great potential of eastern Indonesia is an opportunity that can be utilized by business actors and fishing groups to improve welfare.

This, he said, was because in addition to the fishing business, there were many derivatives that could be developed, such as shipbuilding businesses, fish processing units, ice factories, fishermen's apartments, clean water, fuel, fishing supplies shops, and restaurants.

From these various businesses, it is predicted to absorb around 571,650 workers consisting of crew members, UPI workers, loading and unloading and informal workers.

"I hope that this fishery potential is actually implemented in the area. So we can imagine that if everything is in that area, then the economy will grow there. This is a trigger for economic growth in the region, so it is not 'Java centric', but becomes Indonesia is centric," said Minister Trenggono.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) will begin implementing a measured fishing policy in March 2022 in the Arafura Sea, the waters between Papua and Australia.

"For 2022, it is likely that Arafura will kick off in March for the implementation of measured fishing," said the Acting Director of Permits and Services of the Directorate General of Capture Fisheries at the KKP Mochamad Idnillah during a maritime discussion that was monitored online in Jakarta, Thursday, January 20.

The measurable fishing program is a new policy of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries to protect fish resources in Indonesian waters from being overexploited.

This program provides opportunities for fishermen and capture fisheries business actors to take fish in Indonesian waters based on the quota that has been written in the contract.

The fishing area has also been divided into several zones that are rich in fish resources, namely the Natuna, Java Sea, Arafura Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean waters.