REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TERNATE -- Indonesia does not need to import fish as the country's production is sufficient to meet its domestic requirement, including the needs of its industry and people, an observer stated.

"What it might need to import is certain types of fish of good quality that are difficult to obtain in Indonesia in order to meet the demand of hotels," Mahmud Hasan of North Maluku's Muhammadiyah University affirmed here on Monday.

The solution for the fishery industry, which is facing shortage of raw materials in Indonesia, is not to import but to increase domestic production of fishing companies or traditional fishermen.

He pointed out that Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti's policy to impose a moratorium on the issuance of licenses for foreign fishing ships and to optimize efforts to prevent fish poaching have contributed significantly to the domestic fish production ,and thus, the industry's need for fish could be met.

Hasan said that the government's program to increase fish production by providing assistance in the form of fish catching tools for fishermen had also increasingly helped to boost national fish production and to reduce the import of fish, which is deemed unnecessary.

"I do not understand the basic reason for the trade minister to allow the import of fish. This policy only benefits certain parties and ignores the interests of the fishermen in Indonesia," the observer emphasized.

According to Hasan, the fish import policy will threaten the livelihood of fishermen in Indonesia if it is not lifted, particularly the interest of traditional fishermen. This is because they will have to face a fall in prices as a result of the arrival of imported fish.

The government should instead focus on ways to increase Indonesia's fish exports. One of Indonesia's main exports in the face of global market competition is its genuine fish commodity.

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