Jakarta (ANTARA) - Investing in technology to detect illegal fishing activities must remain a budgetary priority for the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry, Executive Director of the Center for Maritime Studies for Humanity Abdul Halim has said.
"If (the ministry) has the ability (technology to detect IUU Fishing), it should be maximized to strengthen the nation's standing in sea(-related affairs)," Halim said here on Saturday.
The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry owns the Barata, or Bali Radar Ground Receiving Station, a sophisticated radar operated by the Marine Research and Observation Center (BROL), Jembrana.
The ministry has claimed that the radar technology has allowed it to detect illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices and oil spills in Indonesian waters, including in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Halim urged the ministry to also see IUU fishing as a multidimensional problem requiring additional cross-ministerial and institutional efforts.
"IUUF is related to issues in the maritime and trade sectors, employment, and others," he stressed.
A number of other agencies, including the Ministry of Manpower, the Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, must also focus on handling IUU fishing issues, he suggested
Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono had earlier urged members of the Regional Plan of Action to Combat Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated Fishing (RPOA-IUU) to increase cooperation in eradicating illegal fishing.
"Together, we need to emphasize that fighting illegal fishing in various circumstances is not only the responsibility of one country," Trenggono stressed.
The ministry said it has received support from a number of regional partners in the RPOA-IUU.
"The RPOA-IUU, which has been established since 2007 and has 11 member countries, has a strategic role," acting Director General of Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision (PSDKP) Antam Novambar said.
The RPOA-IUU members comprise Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam.
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