Australian and Indonesian officials met in Jakarta last week (24-26 August) to discuss a better working relationship on marine and fisheries issues.
The meeting was opened by the Indonesian Minister for Marine Affairs and Fisheries, His Excellency, Freddy Numberi, with the Australian Ambassador to Indonesia, His Excellency, David Ritchie, with key messages on the need for cooperation on shared issues, including illegal fishing.
The meeting included senior officials from the Indonesian fisheries, foreign affairs, navy and police agencies, as well as fisheries officials from a number of provinces.
They welcomed the outcomes of the meeting and encouraged further cooperation between the Australian and Indonesian governments to ensure the sustainability of marine and fisheries resources in the region.
Indonesia and Australia agreed to establish a bilateral fisheries surveillance forum to consider future areas for cooperation on surveillance.
It was also agreed to conduct an awareness campaign in eastern Indonesian fishing communities to educate them on the impacts and consequences of fishing illegally in Australian waters.
Australia also expressed its concern about illegal fishing in the MoU Box. Both countries noted that there has been a significant depletion of fish stock in the MoU Box area and have agreed to conduct research to establish effort levels.
Indonesia and Australia will prepare a joint management plan for red snapper, a stock that is shared across our maritime border. The principles of this plan will be subsequently incorporated into Australia's and Indonesia's domestic arrangements.
The red snapper management plan will be used as a model for other shared stocks and, for the moment, the countries will maintain a dialogue on the implementation of their national plans of action for shark conservation.
Both sides reiterated the importance of bilateral cooperation in the field of fisheries as an important building block in further strengthening relations.
Significant progress on these issues is expected by the next meeting of the Australia-Indonesia Working Group on Marine Affairs and Fisheries, under the Australia-Indonesia Ministerial Forum, in March 2006.
