Challenges & Opportunities in the Indonesian Fisheries Industry

Owing to its rich marine environment and proximity to an enormous number of islands (more than 17,000), Indonesia is the third biggest seafood producing country in the world after China and Peru. Indonesia’s fishery production totaled 15.26 million tons in 2012, with wild capture accounting for 5.81 million tons and aquaculture for 9.45 million tons, according to the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MMAF). With this abundance of natural resource, Indonesia is facing a number of concerning issues due to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. According to the Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Indonesia is losing over 3 billion US dollars in potential revenue due to these issues, particularly illegal over-fishing when foreign fishermen export tons of fish to other countries. In order to reduce the losses associated with illegal fishing, MMAF is planning to exploit the use of Vessel Monitoring System (VMS).  These systems are intended to track the exact location of the fishing vessel and allow for monitoring vessels and shore-based personnel to be able to verify “friend or foe” by using two-way communication with the fishermen.

The main issue with implementing true marine vessel monitoring systems across the fleet is the favored method whereby the government would supply the VMS tracking units for each fishing boat, as is done in the US VMS solution, instead of allowing fishermen to obtain low-cost / low-quality and unreliable solutions for their own vessels. Another challenge is that MMAF currently owns and operates only 25 patrol boats, which is surely not enough surveillance resource to tackle this large issue for the entire country.  Without a sufficient number of Coast Guard type vessels operating in Indonesia, elimination of the illegal fishing is doubtful.

The MMAF’s Minister and staff met with Blue Sky Network’s CEO, Jon Gilbert, to discuss a prospective pilot program whereby Blue Sky Network (BSN) will provide HawkEye 7200 Marine (HE7200M) satellite tracking solutions to MMAF current fleet of patrol boats to show the potential for comprehensive vessel monitoring, two-way communication, geofencing and Quick Position (QPOS) alerting for increased control and security of the fishing vessels. These tracking solutions in conjunction with BSN’s web portal SkyRouter would allow MMAF to set up geofences where fishing must be prohibited and yet there are vessels there.  HE7200M solutions are portable with external marine antenna.  Our two-way solution provides custom Forms, Bluetooth connectivity and communication. This first step at a long term relationship will allow MMAF to better understand how next generation monitoring of fishing vessels could help regulate and diminish illegal over-fishing, which will provide an economic benefit to Indonesia. Blue Sky Network is excited about this opportunity and looks forward to working with the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries in Indonesia.

To learn more about Blue Sky Network’s satellite tracking solutions, please visit our website at www.blueskynetwork.com or contact our Sales experts at (858) 551-3894.