REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PURWOKERTO -- Expert in marine and fisheries affairs Rokhmin Dahuri said Indonesia could become world's maritime axis in the not too long time to come.

Rokhmin said development of the marine and fishery sector could not only sustain a high economic growth but also would contribute to making Indonesia a world maritime axis as early as in 2025.

Speaking in a seminar here on Saturday on 'Sustainable and Competitive Development of the Fishery sector Toward Indonesia as a World Maritime Axis,' Rokhmin cited a number of challenges to be met.

He cited 40 percent of the country's fishermen live below the poverty line with monthly spending of not more than Rp300,000 per capita.

"Other challenges are rampant IUU (Illegal, Unregulated, and Unreported fishing by foreign fishing vessels; overfishing in a number of sea territories, etc." he said.

Therefore, the government needs to issue a policy and strategy for the marine and fishery sector development such as with the procurement of 5,000 units of modern fishing vessels with a capacity of more than 30 gross tons for fishermen and state fishery company or the private sector with purse seine and long liners.

The ships are needed for operations in deep seas such as the South China Sea and the seas off Natuna, Sulawesi, Banda and Arafura, western Sumatra and southern Java, and the exclusive economic zone, where foreign fishing vessels have been almost free to steal fishes.

The government also needs to expand the capacity and productivity of traditional fishermen to operate in coastal areas.

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