Indonesia is expecting US support in developing a more comprehensive Monitoring, Controlling, and Surveillance (MCS) service."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Through the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries (KKP), Indonesia is looking forward to the support of the United States Government in monitoring illegal fishing practices in Indonesian waters.
"Indonesia is expecting US support in developing a more comprehensive Monitoring, Controlling, and Surveillance (MCS) service," Marine and Fisheries Minister Sharif Cicip Sutardjo stated here on Monday.
Minister Sutardjo noted that a more comprehensive support is expected from the US, particularly in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing cases.
He affirmed that IUU fishing was expected to be included in the Indonesian policy and national planning similar to what the US has put in place for protecting its marine habitat and preventing illegal fishing in its waters.
Moreover, the minister pointed out that rampant IUU fishing practices pose a serious threat to the sustainability of Indonesias fisheries and marine resources.
Therefore, he emphasized that it was of prime importance for Indonesia to strengthen its marine policy and management to prevent, deter, and eliminate IUU fishing.
"The Marine and Fisheries Ministry positively welcomes the outcome of Our Ocean Conference chaired by US Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington DC on June 16-17, 2014," Sutardjo announced.
Kerry hosted the conference, which was intended to curb overfishing, pollution, and chemical changes spurred by rising carbon dioxide emissions across the globe.
The minister noted that the conference presented a set of actions relating to sustainable fisheries, marine pollution, and ocean acidification that the US Government intended to undertake.
According to him, the outcome of the conference was crucial as it strengthens global commitment to preserve and protect marine resources for food security, poverty eradication, and sea-based economic growth.
Earlier, Marine and Fisheries Ministrys Director General of Fisheries Product Processing and Marketing Saut Hutagalung remarked that the mode of sea transportation was vital to improve fisheries distribution between the areas of production and consumption.
"The mode of sea transportation is very important in the improvement of fisheries distribution between the production and market centers," Hutagalung stressed.
He noted that the development of logistics and sea transportation to strengthen national connectivity played an important role in building a maritime country.
(Uu.O001/INE/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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