Source: Asian Correspondent

Already confronted with dwindling catch and faced with ever rising cost of production, tuna producers here are getting worries more than they can handle.

In June this year, the Indonesian government enacted new fishing regulations that virtually banned all Philippine fishing vessels and Filipino fishermen from catching tuna in Indonesian waters and shipping them out to General Santos City and other cities in Mindanao.

The new Indonesian fishing policy stipulated that all foreign companies catching fish in Indonesian waters must maintain ¡°an integrated fishing operation.¡±

Under the new rules which take effect December this year, foreign companies that will engage in fishing in Indonesia must also have processing facilities in the said country.

Foreign investments in Indonesian fishing industry are also limited to fishing vessels with gross ship tonnage of over 60 only.  Below that, they are prohibited from fishing in Indonesian waters.

The Indonesian government also set a five-year timetable to reduce foreign crew of fishing vessels from 50 per cent during the first year to 10 per cent on the fifth year.  By the sixth year, all foreign fishing vessels operating in Indonesia must all be manned by Indonesians.

Foreign fishing companies are also ¡°mandated to transfer technology¡± to their Indonesian employees.

Indonesia lies in the middle of the tuna migratory path which stretches from the Indian Ocean to the Sulawesi Sea and ends up near the Philippine¡¯s Sulu Sea.

The Philippines and Indonesia share a long stretch of common sea boundary where Filipino tuna fishers usually stray out.

Hundreds of Filipino fishers have been apprehended for fishing illegally in Indonesian waters.

Philippine foreign affairs authorities have already alerted defense officials of the new Indonesian fishing policies which in turn ordered the Armed Forces of the Philippines to take notice of the advisory.

Indonesia and the Philippines have existing joint border patrol agreement although this does extend to commercial fishing.

The Philippines was informed of the new Indonesian fishing regulations during a meeting between Philippine consulate officials in Manado and the North Sulawesi office of the Indonesian fisheries ministry.

The result of that meeting was only forwarded by the foreign affairs department to the defense department last month.