Indonesia

Indonesia is giving a high priority to fisheries development as part of government efforts to increase economic returns from tuna and deep sea fisheries. At the same time greater emphasis is being given to developing sustainable coastal fisheries on which a large proportion of the 213 million population depend for food and income but which is now under threat from over fishing and unchecked exploitation of the inshore fisheries environment.

Although the government recognises that fisheries is one of the prime movers of Indonesia’s economy, the industry has not yet reached its maximum sustainable capacity due to various factors including the low level of fishermen’s productivity, insufficient facilities and poor infrastructure. A lack of fishery market intelligence also has handicapped the industry from achieving its true potential, in addition to limited transportation and communications facilities to support the distribution of fishery products.

Indonesia is endowed with vast marine and fisheries resources. Comprising more than 17,000 islands, Indonesia is the world’s largest archipelagic nation. The country’s marine waters cover about 5.8 million square km in area and are estimated to be capable of producing a sustainable 6.26 million tons of fishery products annually. Indonesia’s territorial waters are believed to be able to supply about 4.4 million tons of the total tonnage while a further 1.86 million tons can be fished from Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters.

In the late 1990s fisheries production totaled on an estimated 3.5 million tons or just 55 per cent of the annual sustainable catch. Marine fish production accounts for about 78 per cent of Indonesia’s total fisheries production, including fresh and brackish waters fisheries.

Fishery experts studying the Indonesia’s fishing industry note that deep sea fishing in the EEZ has not been fully developed, while inshore coastal fishing areas already are fully exploited and need to be protected by the introduction of sustainable fishing practices.

“Groupers, snappers, beche de mer and trochus shells for buttons get skimmed off first,” commented one fisheries expert, “the problem is that countries get left without resources, with three to five year cycles. The sea’s productivity does not decrease but they get more lower value fish.” Opportunities exist to develop fisheries production and include aquaculture both fresh water and brackish water, as well as marine cage farming. Locations where opportunities are available include Sulawesi, Sumatra and the Maluku islands. Among fishery products suitable for rearing in these locations are crabs, red tilapia and giant catfish which can be cultured in floating and static cages in lakes, rivers, dam reservoirs and swamps

Potential

In fact, Indonesia already has attracted foreign investors from nearby.

Singapore where the decline of the fisheries sector has encouraged fisheries companies to invest in prawn farmins and aquaculture in Indonesia. Most of these investors export frozen or chilled products to Singapore and other countries.

One area of fisheries that Indonesia is expected to make greater efforts to develop in future is tuna fishing. Current production of skipjack and other tuna is low compared with Indonesia’s overall fisheries production.

In fact, Indonesia’s tuna catch has declined a few percentage points recently. One major reason for the decline in the tuna catch is a shortage of fishing vessels over 200 tonnes. To overcome the problem the government has issued licenses to foreign vessels that pass minimum international standard requirements to operate in Indonesia’s EEZ. Some vessels are chartered or leased by the government while others have formed joint venture partnerships with local companies. Apart from capture fisheries and a large aquacultural potential, Indonesia’s marine waters have the potential to support a growing demand for biotechnology products including bioactive substances for the food, drinks, pharamacutical and cosmetics industry. In addition Indonesia’s marine resources could be developed for genetic engineering to supply superior seeds and micro organism engineering to help tackle marine and water environment pollution.

Indonesia’s 81,000 km coastline is the second longest in the world and already plays a critical role in the country’s social, economic and environmental development. The coastal zone contributes significantly to the country’s overall productivity in terms of food protein production. In addition some of the richest areas of biodiversity occur in the coastal regions of the country and include coral reefs, mangrove swamps, seagrass beds, lagoons and estuaries.

Economic value

livelihood to the coastal communities and and supports numerous economic activities including aquaculture and capture fisheries which provide the bulk of the country’s fishery requirements. According to government figures in 2002 the fisheries industry represented 2.3 per cent of Indonesia’s gross domestic product.

Almost 10,000 coastal communities across the Indonesian archipelago are dependent on fishing for a large part of their income.

Fisheries are a major source of food supplies for most Indonesians.

According to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, coastal waters supply over 55 per cent of the national fish harvest, while food fish supply about 67 per cent of the total animal protein consumed by the population.

International aid

eanwhile, since the early 1990s the government has used a number of loans from multilateral development banks and bilateral aid from various donors to begin developing sustainable inshore fisheries in vartious regions. In addition loans and aid are being used to protect large areas of coral reefs from destruction through uncontrolled and illegal fishing.

The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank are the main multilateral lending agencies supporting Indonesia’s sustainable fisheries development programme. During the past decade various measures and programmes have been adopted in about 80 coastal districts throughout Indonesia to promote inshore fisheries management. These have concentrated on research, resource evaluation and planning rather than resource management.

The various projects have helped improve coastal fisheries resources in coral reefs, mangroves and coastal fishing stocks. Among lessons learned is the need to involve the private sector and coastal communities themselves in preparing the fisheries management plans to ensure they meet local needs and are successfully implemented.

Private sector support for fisheries development will remain important in future as Indonesia still lacks adequate fish processing and storage facilities such as cold stores and modern processing plants.

Bilateral donors include Australia which has financed research into migratory fish catches in Indonesia including tuna and snapper to enable both country’s to learn more about important fish species that inhabit both their countries’ waters.

Foreign consultants also have been hired to help the fisheries authorities modernise and improve data collection management skills to obtain a more accurate statistics on tuna and other migratory fishery catches. Consultancy services also are being used to support institutional development of fisheries management to ensure that more sustainable fisheries production is introduced countrywide in future.

“In the tropical marine eco-system if you remove the top dwelling preditors or the bottom dwelling creatures the eco-system becomes less resilient to shocks,” the fisheries expert commented. “Elsewhere, we have seen the great cod banks of Canada collapse. Fish stocks have not bounced back as expected. It’s the robustness of the eco-system that is interferred with.”

World Bank programme

World Bank programme

As part of international support for the inshore fishing industry the World Bank recently awarded Indonesia a US$56.2 million loan to rehabilitate some of the country’s most threatened coral reefs and establish effective management of these coral reef fishing resources in future. The loan is the second by the bank to support coral reef fishing and is designed to build on lessons learned during the first phase of the programme which involved 20 fishing villages on South Sulawesi and Irian Jaya (Papua) in eastern Indonesia.

Illegal fishing including indiscriminate use of dynamite has grown in recent years through the ignorance of coastal villagers in some areas that destroying the reefs will also destroy their own livelihood. Public information will form an essential part of the World Bank programme with education about the need for sustainable fishing practices included in the schooltimetable to increase awareness among children and to help educate their fisherfolk parents who, research has shown, learn about the importance of preserving coral reefs when families discuss schoolwork at home.

Asian Development Bank

The Asian Development Bank also is involved in coral reef rehabilitation and providing support for the development of sustainable inshore fisheries management in Indonesia. A US$33 million loan is supporting work to develop sustainable coral reef fishing in six districts in three provinces of of Sumatra, with the idea that the impact of the programme will also extend to other neighbouring areas.

Because of overlapping reponsibilities in inshore fisheries four departments under the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries are involved: the Coasts and Small Islands Directorate; the Capture Fisheries Directorate; the Aquaculture Directorate; and the Marine Resources and Fisheries Controlling Directorate.

The six and a half year programme is due for completion in June 2009. The scope of the project includes the provision of consultancy support to improve national and regional fisheries institutions capability in setting policy, strategy and guideline formulation. In addition coral reef information and training centres will be established, and support staff trained to provide on the ground advice and information.

Another important aspect of the programme involves providing direct support to fishing villages jointly manage their own coral fishing reefs in a sustainable manner. Support will be provided to enable the villages to use revenue earned through better fisheries management to support the development of community social services and create other income generating opportunities.

In spite of international assistance so far in selected communities, the fisheries sector as a whole still faces a number of problems that need to be tacked to ensure sustainable development in future. Over fishing, pollution, coastal erosion and siltation from estuary discharge are some of the problems that need to be managed. Tackling their root causes and providing a long term solution will require policy, legal and institution constraints to be overcome to improve marine and fisheries resource management.

The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, which oversees fisheries resource management, has prepared a strategic plan for fisheries development from 2005 to 2009 which aims to develop fisheries and coastal resources to support food security and economic development.

Planning to launch the strategic programme is due to get underway shortly as part of project preparation consultancy services arranged by the Asian Development Bank, funded by a British aid grant. Consultants selected will help draw up plans for a project for which the Asian Development Bank will provide funding.

Introducing the coastal fisheries management strategy is intended to increase self management among coastal communities in guarding and developing their own resources while controling pollution and coastal erosion that threatens the livelihood of fishing villages.

In addition the strategy aims to create new employment opportunities based on fisheries and other coastal opportunities to increase incomes among fishermen who form one of Indonesia’s poorest communities.

The eventual project is planned to cover nine districts in eight provinces.

Consultants appointed will advise on the selection of the areas to benefit from the programme which aims to draw on experience of previous projects rehabilitating coral reef fishing zones in providing opportunities for the chosen communities to develop successful long term fisheries management policies to safeguard their own livelihoods.