Trawlers urged to monitor Indonesian fishing law

BANGKOK, November 15 (TNA) - Thailand's Fisheries Department have urged owners of fishing trawlers operating in the Indonesian territorial waters to closely monitor Indonesian fishing law, which will be amended and become more stricter for foreign fishing vessels. Joompol Sanguansin, Director-General of the Fisheries Department, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, told journalists that the Indonesian Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries recently invited ambassadors of countries whose trawlers are operating in the Indonesian territorial waters for discussions on Jakarta's plan to amend its fishery law. Joompol said the new law involves a complete revamp on the issuance of fishing licence, a quota on the amount of catches and the duration in which fishes are allowed to be caught in Indonesia. Besides, the new law specifies that fishes that are caught must be processed in Indonesia first before they are exported or brought back to Thailand. According to senior official, the Fisheries Department wants Thai trawler owners to, thus, closely monitor the new Indonesian law so that they will follow the new law. According to statistics, issued by Oxfam in Thailand, Thai fishermen on average caught 297.6 kilogrammes of fish per hour in 1961, but the amount tumbled to only 17.8 kilogrammes now because they use fishing equipment without taking environment problems into consideration. Oxfam is an international confederation of 17 organisations working in approximately 94 countries worldwide to find solutions to poverty and what it considers injustice around the world. In a related development, a fish consuming festival will be held at Santi Chaiprakarn Park in Bangkok from November 22-23, during which visitors will gain more knowledge on the current situation of the sea in the country, while also buying cheap and fresh marine products directly from fishermen. (TNA)