DILI, 17 october 2022 (TATOLI) – Miguel da Costa Pereira (53) says it now takes about four days of being at sea for him to catch one black snapper (Ikan Su metan/Kakap hitam) at his usual fishing ground of the Nankurun coast in the southern part of Manatuto municipality, Timor-Leste.
“We don’t catch much fish these days compared to 10 or 20 years ago,” Miguel said in a recent interview. We have no idea and it’s a bit of a strange experience because everyone here comes across the same thing,” said Pereira at the Nankurun beach.
Lourenço da Costa Pereira (50), Miguel’s brother who is also a fisherman, adds that he couldn’t catch enough fish to sustain his family’s daily life. He said he would still have a lot of fish to sell and make money for other things a couple of decades ago. “So, if you cast your fishing gear at night and catch a black snapper, that means you are very lucky.”
The Pereira brothers are some of the hundreds of fishers living on the country’s south coast. Officials’ estimates show that some 5,000 fishers are identified in the nation with 32% of them living on the south coast.
“Fishermen on the south coast are still heavily engaged in traditional fishing methods,” said Abilio da Fonseca, professor of fisheries and aquaculture at the National University of Timor-Lorosa’e (UNTL).
Lourenco said there is no way for local fishermen to catch all the fish, saying they only go fishing when the tides are low. Miguel pointed his fingers and blamed the large illegal fishing vessels that often sail and fish in their waters for causing the stock depletion.
“One night my brother Lourençe and I were on Nankurun beach and we saw two strange large fishing vessels in our water. They seemed to be struggling and behaving strangely. And I spoke to my brother, they were the ones who took all the fish. They use trawls for fishing. There are always two big fishing boats and they are not small at all. They must be working together. So, if they have two such big vessels fishing together, I assume they would catch a lot of fish,” Miguel said.
He said the unidentified fishing vessels always operate in the area at night time and during high tide, “Actually, we just watch and do nothing. Even the authorities here, I am sure would not do anything because the tides are high and they have no means to chase these illegal fishermen.”
In response to the concerns of coastal communities regarding the illegal fishing on their waters, the Director General of Fisheries, Acacio Guterres, said that due to lack of resources, including trained personnel and adequate equipment such as maritime patrol vessels, making it difficult for the authorities to protect Timor-Leste waters from illegal fishing.
“So far, we have not seized any illegal fishing vessels. We have only detected these fishing vessels through the global fishing watch. Therefore, to deter illegal fishing in our water, I think we need trained personnel, and adequate equipment,” he said.
Gutteres said Timor-Leste is currently working with Indonesia on a project called the Indonesia Sea Large Marine Ecosystem: “We are working with Indonesia, focusing on illegal fishing and transboundary conservation.
According to the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Indonesian Seas Large Marine Ecosystem region covers an approximate total of 2.13 million km² (98 percent in Indonesia’s territorial waters, and 2 percent in the territorial waters of Timor-Leste).
“We also currently collaborate with Australia, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea on the Arafura and Timor Seas Ecosystem Action (ATSEA). Working with these countries is important to strengthen our efforts to reduce the illegal fishing in Timor and the Arafura Sea in the future” he said.
Guterres said that most illegal fishing activities in Timor-Leste occurred in the southern part of the country, where the tide was high and abundant of fish: “The two Maritime Patrol Vessels given by the Australian government, which will arrive in 2023, will help us to control our sea. We hope that these patrol vessels will be able to control the whole Exclusive Economic Zone of Timor-Leste.”
He said according to Timor-Leste’s decree-law, No. 6/2004, foreign fishing vessels licensed to fish in national maritime waters may only engage in fishing activities starting from (a) 6 miles from the coastline, for semi-industrial fishing; (b) 18 miles from the coastline, for industrial fishing.
However, due to limited resources, it is still difficult for the authorities to ensure that foreign-licensed vessels follow the regulations.
Guterres said that to effectively monitor Timor-Leste’s water, Timor-Leste needs its monitoring technology to combat IUU fishing.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF), in 2018, approximately 107 illegal fishing vessels were detected in the Timor Sea. During that period, an estimated 239,460 tons of fish were taken from the sea, which is estimated to have an economic value of more than US$1 billion.
Meanwhile, in 2019, MoAF reported a total of 69 illegal fishing vessels operating in Timor-Leste waters. Over 147,975 tons of fish were lost, which is equivalent to US$838,350,000. In addition, in 2020, MoAF registered 48 illegal fishing vessels. These vessels stole about 1,563 tons of fish, which is equivalent to US$9,694,000.
“With such modern equipment, I believe they can catch all fish, including, black and red snapper, mackerel tuna, sardines, Spanish mackerel, shark, dolphins, hammerhead shark, and so on. So, they are the ones that come here often and catch all the fish,” Miguel said.
Lourenco said that each local fisherman only casts his fishing gear one at a time: “In contrast, these big fishing vessels cast tens of thousands of fishing gears. So as soon as you see them sailing on the water, all the fish are gone. Nowadays, we rarely catch red snapper and shark.”
“I spend almost 30 years making a living from fishing. That is why I know exactly what is going wrong in our waters,” he said.
“It is not just my brother and I who regularly see these illegal fishing vessels. Other local fishermen have also seen these vessels often. Recently, my brother Miguel and I used our torches to scare them away, but they were so brave. So, there was nothing we could do because the tide is so high and very dangerous to enter,” said Lourenço.
“We wanted to contact the authorities, but we are well aware that currently, Timor-Leste does not have the advance and large patrol vessels which are capable of controlling and preventing our water from illegal fishing. Even if the authorities were here and saw the boats themselves, they would do nothing,” he said.
Lourenço called on the government to intensify its efforts to seriously protect Timor-Leste’s underwater natural resources.
“We want the relevant authorities to establish good contact with local fishermen so that when we see an illegal vessel, we immediately report it to the national authority for serious action against these illegal fishermen. It is sad for us because foreigners come and take hundreds of tons of fish from our water,” he said.
The village chief of Umaboku, Feliciano Batista, informed that he had heard several times from local fishermen about the operation of illegal fishing vessels on Umaboku waters.
“They talked about the illegal fishing vessels. According to what I learned from these local fishermen is that when the fishing vessels passed through the Umaboku water, there would be no fish underwater. That is what they told me,” Batista said.
He called on the Timor-Leste Marine Patrol Unit (MPU) of the Timorese National Police (PNTL) to spend some time monitoring and controlling Timor-Leste’s water in the southern municipalities: “The Government should take urgent action to stop illegal fishing. The Government should spend some money to buy a marine patrol vessel to control and prevent our water from illegal fishing.”
Also, Abilio da Fonseca, professor of fisheries and aquaculture at the National University of Timor-Lorosa’e (UNTL) said that to successfully protect the underwater resources, Timor-Leste needs trained personnel and adequate equipment to enforce the law.
“It is good for Timor-Leste to sign an agreement with the other ATSEA countries, including Indonesia, Australia, and PNG to deter illegal fishing,” Fonseca said.
He said according to Global Fishing Watch, the non-profit that tracks vessel activity at sea, the majority of illegal fishing vessels in Timor-Leste waters come from Indonesia.
Fonseca stressed that ATSEA countries should agree on joint operations in the Arafura and the Timor Sea region: “This regional commitment will help intensify our collective actions to deter illegal fishing.”
“The Tasi Mane (southern sea) is rich in natural underwater resources than the Tasi Mane (northern sea). There are many different types of pelagic fish that have a very high economic value for international markets. These illegal fishing vessels know exactly where these fish are in our water,” he said.
Fonseca said that personnel from ATSEA countries need to undertake a joint training operation to share experiences that will help a resource-poor country such as Timor-Leste to participate in the fight against illegal fishing.
“Illegal fishing threatens our food security and our economy. If we do not step up our efforts to acquire adequate resources and design good policies to control our underwater resources, then the livelihoods of our coastal communities will be in great danger,” he concluded.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges
