REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KOTABARU -- Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has stated that every fishing vessel of less than 10 gross tonnage (GT) are exempt from obtaining operating permits.

"I ask regional governments not to impose levies on fishing vessels with a capacity of less than 10 GT to enable them to operate," she said on Sunday.

In return for the levies, the regional governments had to collect levies or income tax from large companies, she said. The minister asked the regional governments to give fishermen a chance to grow.

She feared the levies will prevent fishermen from growing and therefore, the government needs to make a new breakthrough to alleviate the burden of fishermen, including imposing a moratorium on the issuance of fishing licenses for large trawlers. Director General of Fisheries Gellwynn Jusuf said earlier that the moratorium was not only related to the issuance of fishing licenses.

"We expect that in the future the moratorium will not only reduce the number of fishing licenses but uphold proper supervision as well," he said.

The six-month moratorium launched by Minister Susi Pudjiastuti was also aimed at protecting sovereignty to avoid transhipment, he said. He said many fishing companies had questioned the reason behind the moratorium and transhipment ban.

"This moratorium is not fixed. It is a process of rearranging all fleets of licensed fishing ships, particularly home-made fishing vessels," he said.

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