Anucha Charoeopo, a Bangkok Post reporter on cross-border activities and transnational crimes has returned from Indonesia after completing his SEAPA Fellowship Program in June.

Through his interviews with various stakeholders including officials in Jakarta and Medan and local fishermen and Thai and Indonesian fishing company officials, he discovered why Indonesia tolerates illegal fishing by foreign poachers especially the Thai. Corrupted officials, local marine police and navy fishing colluded with illegal fishing companies to forgo hefty fishing license and tax in return for bribes. This illegal business not only threatens the Indonesian economy but also local fishermen who were robbed their means of living. Legal Thai fishermen too suffered from this illegal business. Following is his three-part series.

Illegal Thai Fishing Robbed Indonesia off Billions of Catches and Cash

By: Anucha Charoenpo

JAKARTA -- Each year, more than 3,000 Thai vessels set sail to Indonesian waters near Malacca Straits, South China Sea and Arafura Sea to fish illegally for tuna and mackerel, a source of billion-dollar earnings for Indonesian fishing industry.


According to Indonesian officials, marine police and navy patrol units allow Thai fleets to forgo hefty license fees and taxes in return for bribes.

The activities have been robbing Indonesia of US$ 1.2 billion to US$2.4 billion worth of potential catch.

This illegal business not only poses threat to the Indonesian economy but also raised security concerns related to the arrest and detention of Thai fishermen as well as their frequent shootings with Indonesian fishermen.

Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Rokhmin Dahuri said as of May this year 3,018 illegal Thai vessels avoid paying license fees amounting from US$75 million to US$90 million a year.

And by not selling their catch in the Indonesian market, Thai vessels effectively evade annual taxes worth about US$30 million to US$60 million. The amount represents 2.5% of the value of their catch, a requirement that the Indonesian government imposes on foreign vessels that have been issued licenses to operate in its seas.

Thai trawlers started exploring the Java Sea in 1960, but their presence in Indonesian waters became a concern for the Indonesian government only in the early 1980s when their number shored up dramatically and started posing a threat to the Indonesian economy.

Unsustainable fishing industry in Thailand has squandered marine resources in the Gulf of Thailand and posed a limit for the country to compete in the fisheries export

Worsen by the closure of neighboring Burma’s territorial waters in 1999, Thai fishermen had no other logical choice but to look up to Indonesia where opulent marine resource is opulent and the distance is proximate to Thailand.

Since 1953, Indonesia has allowed foreign vessels to operate in its waters, but under strict regulations.

To fish there, a Thai vessel has to obtain a license from the Indonesian government for up to US$30,000, depending on its size. The Thai vessel is also required to sell its catch in the Indonesian market—to form part of Indonesia’s exports to Malaysia and Singapore, which in turn will process and export them to Japan.

This regulation is meant to keep the earnings within Indonesia. Once Thai vessels get to sell locally, they are expected to pay taxes equivalent to 2.5% of the value of their catch.

Thai fishermen choose to skirt those regulations to save operational costs and to rake up more profits.

Rokhmin says, Thai illegal vessels alone are responsible for the biggest loss of 60 percent of between US$ 2 billion to US$4 billion worth of earnings expected from the Indonesian fishing industry.

Worse still, these catches were brought home and exported directly—and at less cost—to Japan, which is Indonesia’s end market.

The conflict arising from illegal fishing activities has taken its toll not only on the Thai fishing companies running this illegal business but also on the lives of Thai fishermen they employed.

Over the past years, more than a hundred illegal Thai fishermen have been arrested and detained by Indonesian authorities. Their trials would normally proceed from seven months to a few years before they are released. In some instances, Thai fishermen engaged in gunfire exchanges with Indonesian fishermen whose livelihood was also threatened by the invasion of Thai fishermen.

Witthaya Chaisuwan, agricultural representative of Thai embassy in Indonesia, believes that hundreds of Thai crews are being detained in local jails. Once released, the Indonesian authorities do not return the seized Thai ships and just put them on auction.

The Indonesian government has tried several measures to curb the illegal activities of Thai and other foreign vessels- from licensing foreign vessels to undergo, using satellite communication devices, establishing community-based surveillance system; and increasing marine patrol.

Illegal vessels nevertheless know how to get around these measures by conniving with corrupt government officials and businessmen.

Crooked Thai fishing companies have paid hundreds of million dollars a year to Indonesian government officials especially the navy and marine police to clear their way into the Indonesian waters. Under the Indonesian flags, their vessels could freely fish to the ignorance of the officials.

Under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, foreign vessels’ off-limit access to Indonesian waters is within Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone, but not beyond 12 sea miles off the shores.

The Indonesian fishing companies are partly to be blamed for selling their fishing licenses to their illegal Thai counterpart fishermen.

This fishy deal nevertheless has a price to pay. Many Thai fishing companies were deceived into buying licenses from their Indonesian counterparts that never got license from the government.

The fee for each fake license is much cheaper than that of the genuine one. Still it could cost the purchasers between US$10,000-20,000 per year, according to Mr Budi Antoko, an information officer of the Maritime Affairs and Fishery Ministry.

The normal fee is between US$ 25,000-30,000 a year. Aji Sularso, a senior navy officer attached to Navy headquater in Jakarta, admits many naval officers were on the take.

“It’s not easy to control them from Jakarta, Indonesia is a big country and it’s difficult to prove bribe-taking, especially when it happens at sea,” he said.

Songsang Patavanich, president of the Thai Overseas Fisheries Association, asked Indonesian government to reduce fee for fishing operation in the country because it was too high like about US$ 55,000 for a 300 –ton trawler per year for Thai fishing companies to afford during the economic slump.

“The fee reduction will be another efficient solution to stimulate a number of Thai fishermen into legislation system of Indonesia.

Indonesia accused us of being offenders for a long time. That’s because our ships have been equipped with more high-tech fishing devices than those of local vessels. And we can yet catch fishes more than them,’’ he said.

 

Belawan Fishing Haven Turned Futile

By: Anucha Charoenpo

NORTH SUMATRA -- Belawan sea was long known to the Thai fishermen as a popular illegal fishing destination since 1988. The area is 35 kilometer away from Medan, the capital city of North Sumatra province.

Thai fishermen sailed for a week to reach the destination and took about twenty days to collect their catches and return to Thailand.

Until now the invasion of the Thai trawlers on this remote fishing ground has not only significantly reduced the number of fishes there but also changed the way local fishermen survived themselves.

Some villagers may not like the Thai for robbing them a mean of living they deserved but others are adept to the reality change by entering into business contact with the Thai for survival.

There are currently about 20,000 people living in Belawan, most of them are traditional fishermen.

They work with no boats of their own. Profits from the catch are divided between the fishermen and the boat owners.

Traditional fishermen commonly use single layer nets or simple fish hooks. Thus their income is very low compared to foreign fishermen employing ships with modern equipment and technology.

According to Mr. Wahidin, for years ago, Belawan traditional fishermen have ever caught fishes about 200 kilograms per week or about 3,300,000 Rupiah (US$ 330), excluding operational cost which stood at 700,000 Rupiah (US$ 70) per week.

But today the fish quantity considerably dropped to 70 kilograms per week, equivalent to 500,000 Rupiah (US$ 50) worth of earning they fetched per week. In contrast, the operational cost has so far soared up to 1,200,000 Rupiah (US$120) per week. This meant that if they can not fish and sell them more than the operational cost, the big loss is likely to follow.

Sofian, 40, captain of a small fishing boat said Thai fishing trawlers were equipped with high-tech fishing devices that destroyed coral reefs. Sofian said many coral reefs in Belawan Sea were badly damaged that he and other fishermen barely catch a lot of fishes these days.

M. Syafri, 38, chairman of Mitra, the Independent Traditional Fishermen Group in Bakan village of Belawan, said most of his fishermen have so far turned to catch seashells other than fishes.

Fishes are not available to catch in the present time due to the illegal fishing operations. The country’s coral reefs are badly damaged and fishes are nowhere to live.

He said seashells were actually sold with higher price than fishes but it was very difficult to catch because they were in the deep sea, or more than 18 meters from the surface.

Most of the fishes and seashells caught by traditional fishermen were later exported to Malaysia and Singapore.

Mr Syafria has many times seen illegal Thai fishermen operating about 10-15 miles from the shores of his village.

He said these Thai fishermen did not moor their ships along the shores for their security reason. Ironically, it was more logical for local fishermen and villagers themselves that should be scared of the Thai.

Syafria said local villagers were in fear because the Thai fishermen had “guns” on the ships.

Another fisherman Rami, 40 recalled the shooting incident of 1996 when a local fisherman was shot dead by a Thai fisherman at sea, some 15 miles of shores after he refused to compensate for a damaged fishing net.

“Today local fishermen call the area “shooting area. No local fishermen dared to pass the route as they wanted to forget it,’’ he said.

Nevertheless, some of local fishermen make contact with illegal Thai fishermen by supplying consumption goods such as soap, shampoo, rice and fruit to them in exchange for fishes they hoped to sell to provide for their family a day.

Local villagers quickly pointed out four illegal Thai fishing ships seized in Belawan area since 1998 were still there to remind. Three fishing trawlers are still left at the navy port in Belawan, and another one sank after leaving unused for years, said Rami, 40, another traditional fisherman.

Rami estimated 50 Thai crews arrested and sent to a navy prison in Belawan. Today no Thai remains in the prison but the illegal fishing in Belawan seas is still rampant.

Belawan traditional fishermen have long insisted the arrest of foreign poachers but to no avail.

They accused navy and marine police officers here of allegedly accepting bribe from Thai fishing companies in order to let them to freely fish in the area.

Navy and marine officers here declined to comment, saying that they were very busy.

Wahidin, 42, chairman of Anera, the traditional fishing association in Belawan Lama village, said he has seen navy officers approaching the illegal Thai ships in Malacca Straits many times but never seen them arrest the Thai.
“ I have ever asked the navy officers about the incidents and they said to me that they were working and it was not my business,’’ he said.

 

Legal Thai Fishermen Cry foul: Crooked Business Spoiled the Good

By: Anucha Charoenpo

JAKARTA -- At 11 PM, the Thai fishermen at Muara Baru fishing port in Jakarta gather for a ritual to worship god of the sea, asking her to bless them for big catches and protect their life before they set sail again.

Afterwards, it was Jaroon Sangthong, a skipper of “Silmanee” trawler from Songkhla fishing port who spoke to a Thai visitor first,

Jaroon said he and his ten crews have never returned home yet for several months.

They regularly came in and out of this fishing port in northern Jakarta to unload catch and sell them to local market here.

Jaroon, 41, and his crews have been working for a Thai fishing company having a legal joint venture with an Indonesian fishing company for years.

Every 20 days after each catch, Jaroon and his crews returned to the market to sell fishes and pay fee as required by the Indonesian law. They moored the ship at the port to take a rest for a few days to be back on for fishing grounds again.

Their company is allowed to fish in the Java Sea and the South China Sea near Kalimantan Island.

Jaroon says he did not know how much his boss has to pay to the domestic company and the government in order to get the fishing license. The only think he knew was to catch as many fishes as possible in one trip. Meaning the more he caught fishes, the more he got money to support his family in Thailand.

“Working hard also helps me overcome home-sick feelings,” Jaroon said. His red-burnt face could tell.

“I don’t even know every time he was out at work that I will ever had a chance to see my children and wife again,” he said.

“Working at sea always implies that we are ready to die. You could never phantom the sea. Some time it is calm and smooth but when it’s crazy, you could never tell,” he said.

Jaroon encountered a big storm and huge wave many times at sea while fishing near Kalimantan Island but he and his crew managed to survive.

Each of the trip, lasted between 2 to 4 months, he would return to Thailand to take a rest for twenty days or more and then got back to work again. It goes on and on for years.

He admitted he wanted to quit this job many times but had no other job skills.

If he resigned, he had no money to pay for his children’s education and family. Such life normally happens with Jaroon for years long that he traveled in and out of Indonesian waters.

Jaroon earned between Bt8,000 and 10,000 a trip and the income was also up to the volume of catches. “In some trips, I had no much money left to return to his family,” he said.

Moored next to Jaroon’s ship was “Veerasamutr” fishing trawler from Rayong, an eastern province of Thailand, Daoluek Kliewphan, 35, said he did not yet return home for 5 months.

His ship normally moored at this place every month after finishing fishing operation in South China sea near Kalimantan. Daoluek said all fishes caught at the sea were unloaded and sold at the port’s market.

Daoluek earned about 6,000-7,000 baht a trip. The money was not enough to cover high cost of living in Jakarta. Furthermore, he had to collect part of the money for his family in Rayong.

“Everyday I miss my family so much but I have no choice, how can I do I am under-educated. So I have to be patient and wait for time to come back home,’’ said the small while helped massaging his skipper’s legs on the ship.

Daoluek also said his ship was twice arrested by navy officers despite the fact that owner of the ship had paid fee to the government. The navy officers charged the ship and its crews for violating Indonesian waters.

“ We have shown them a fishing license but they did not believe and arrested us. Until we bribed them, we got released,’’ he noted.

“Not only his ship was arrested, but there are also many legal ships. This phenomenon is prominent evident in the Indonesian sea. I don’t quite understand ,” he said.

He asked the Indonesian government to take drastic measures against navy and maritime police officers who arrested legal Thai fishing vessels as a ploy to extort money from them.

Moreover, legal Thai fishermen had to encounter with local mafia at the fishing port who liked to prey on foreign crews when their ships moored at the port. If resisted, they would be beaten up to death.

Several foreign crews had been beaten and stabbed to death here over the past few years.

To this unfortunate incident, Thai fishermen were staying together on their ships.

Suchart Thammasujit, 40, who is working for Indonesian fishing ship, said he could not sleep and stay alone on his ship since he was afraid of local mafia gangs.

Suchart said his Indonesian colleagues returned their homes shortly after the ship arrived at the port, leaving him to stay alone on the ship. He said every night he had to sleep at his Thai friend’s ship.

Suchart never returned his hometown, Prachuab Khiri Khan for four years. He said his passport had one year left to expire and he will take this chance to return home.

“ I miss home so much,’’ he added.