Overfishing threatens preservation of RI`s natural fish resources

            Various fishery management regions were considered over crowded, and overfishing could threaten fish resource preservation in Indonesia, an official of the marine and fisheries ministry, said.

            "Clearly, it`s a big challenge for Indonesia to meet the commitment to a responsible fishery management," Soen`an Hadi Poernomo, head of the ministry`s statical data and information center, said here on Sunday.

            Java Sea, Arafura Sea, Karimata Strait and Sulawesi Sea were over crowded, he said.

by-catch fishery must be controlled in an effort to preserve fish, he said. The number of fishing boats must be in status quo, and even it should be decreased, he said.

He said fishing schedule and equipment must be regulated tightly.

            "All should be supported by researches which study fish stocks or condition," he said.

The Indonesian government had made some efforts to preserve fish through various instruments such as Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF), Port State Measure, Global Record of Vessels, and fish trade regulation, he explained.

            Regional cooperation in ocean fish management was also needed to preserve fish stocks, Hadi Poernomo said.

The 28th session of FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)`s Committee on Fisheries, COFI was held in Rome, Italy, on March 2-6, 2009, to discuss among other things the importance of small-scale fisheries, the role that women play within these fisheries, illegal, unregulated and unreported fisheries (IUU), climate change and management of deep sea fisheries in the high seas.

            He said Indonesia was represented by Aji Sularso, the marine and fishery ministry`s director general of marine resource supervision and control, in the Rome meeting.

In the FAO COFI meeting, many participants spoke in favor of a new COFI process to develop guidelines on by-catch management and discard reduction, he said.