The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s \'cantrang\' ban is based on the consideration that the fishing equipment is not environmentally friendly.
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Kompas/Buyung Wijaya Kusuma
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti appears on a screen during her presentation at the Our Ocean 2017 conference, which was held on Oct. 5-6 in Malta.
The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s cantrang (seine net) ban is based on the consideration that the fishing equipment is not environmentally friendly. In the long run, the ban is hoped to contribute to sustainable marine resource cultivation in Indonesia.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said the cantrang ban was put in place to merely protect the marine ecosystem. “Cantrang, trawls, purse seine and the like can catch everything underwater, leading to the complete exhaustion of fish reserve and marine ecosystem,” Susi said at her official residence in Jakarta on Monday (19/2/2018) evening.
Susi explained that boats weighing dozens up to thousands gross tons could travel up to hundreds of kilometers offshore with trawls spread out underwater. Apart from adult fishes, juvenile fishes may also be caught. “Just imagine, hundreds of even thousands of ships fish like this every day. Our entire marine ecosystem wealth can be depleted in no time,” she said.
Susi, who was a fishery businesswoman from 1983 to 2006, said that she personally felt the impact of reduced fishing yield. She said that, at one time, Pangandaran regency and Java’s northern coastal area was famed as a marine resource exporter.
Fishermen could catch between 30 tons and 40 tons of shrimps in one night of fishing. However, since 2000, export has decreased. Fishing yields decreased to between 50 kilograms and 100 kilograms. Exports ended in 2006. As fishing yield decreased, so did local fishermen’s welfare. Many fishermen and fishery businesspeople switched jobs.
Within 10 years, from 2003 to 2013, the number of fishery households decreased by 44 percent. Data shows that there were 1.6 million household fishery businesses in 2003 and only 864,414 left in 2013.
Susi also explained that her cantrang ban had showed positive results. Fish reserve, which was only 6.5 million tons in 2014, grew to 12.54 million tons in 2017.
Fishermen’s welfare improved. Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry data shows that fishermen’s average exchange value was 104.63 in 2014. The figure rose to 108.24 in 2016 and 109.86 in 2017.
Fishermen’s exchange value shows the comparison between fishermen’s daily income and expense. As the figure increases, so does fishermen’s welfare.
Susi said that fishermen in Pangandaran, West Java, could get up to 5 tons of anchovies in one night. More than 10 years ago, such a high amount of nightly anchovy yield was rare. “In Pangandaran, fishermen had never seen anchovies for between 15 and 17 years. Now, they can get five tons in a good night, if weather is good. Squids and mackerel tuna populations are also growing,” she added.
