Indonesian Fisheries Management

The analysis of the Indonesian fisheries assessment and management framework has revealed a picture of management gaps, data inconsistency and inadequacy of regulations to achieve the sustainability of fish resources. The open-access nature of the fisheries and complexity of licensing systems, split between three levels of government, make planning and enforcement difficult. To deal with the increasing exploitation of fisheries resources, the Indonesian Government enacted Fisheries Law No. 9 (1985), later followed by Fisheries Law No. 31 (2004). These laws covered most aspects of fisheries in Indonesia, including jurisdiction, management, exploitation, development, delegation of responsibilities, as well as monitoring, control and surveillance. Despite the good intention of these laws, there remain major problems in implementation, particularly in relation to the lack of agreement concerning the sharing of the marine jurisdiction and fisheries management responsibilities among the national, provincial and district governments within Indonesia. In general, fisheries officers understood the fisheries laws very well, but found it difficult to implement in a practical sense.