The potential study of fishing area and its relationship to marine security in Natuna island

Abstract

Natuna Island is one of the small outer islands in Indonesia bordering Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and directly facing the South China Sea. Natuna seawaters have enormous potential fishery resources and one of the fishing areas used as a fishing activity for Indonesian and foreign fishermen. The potential also made illegal fishing practice rampant in Natuna seawaters and led to the Indonesian maritime security patrol being directed to Natuna seawaters to stop the illegal fishing process. The marine security patrol activities require high operational costs, and This can be minimized in several ways, particularly by knowing the points that can contain extensive fish resources, and the security patrols can be carried out directly at these points of location. To obtain information about these locations, map the potential fishing areas in Natuna seawaters for each period or monsoon. This study aims to apply remote sensing analysis to collect comprehensive information regarding strategic fishing areas prone to violations and security threats related to fishing activities based on monthly analyzes. The data used in this study were chlorophyll-a concentration and SST from MODIS level-3 with a resolution of 4 km from January to December 2019. SST and chlorophyll-a concentration data used pre-process analysis with SeaDas Software to ensure the data projection in the World Geodetic System (WGS) 84 format. The data processing stage uses ER Mapper software to project the distribution of SST and chlorophyll-a concentration into a contour. Post-processing data used ArcGIS software to determine crosses’ results on the SST contour and the combined chlorophyll-a concentration. Image data processing results show that the lowest fishing point on Natuna Island in August with 51 fishing points, and the highest fishing point on Natuna Island in February with 584 fishing points. The results showed that fishing points vulnerable to illegal fishing are mostly located in the northern part of Natuna Island. The fishing zone is mostly far from Natuna island’s coastal line. The results of this study indicate that the fishing area in the outer regions of Natuna Island needs to be increased in security and protection, especially in regions with a high level of fishing activity. This information is expected to become a reference for the authorities in the marine security sector in Natuna waters to take certain policies related to marine security patrols’ operational activities in Natuna waters, particularly in minimizing operational costs of marine security patrols in Natuna seawaters.

Protection of Indonesian Fishermen from China's Threat in the North Natuna Sea Region During the Covid-19 Pandemic

“…The Natuna Islands are the point of this part of the Indonesian archipelago, lying between Kalimantan (Borneo) and the Malaysian Peninsula, stretching into the far southern end of the South China Sea. [1] End of 2019, a number of foreign vessels entered Indonesia's EEZ in the Natuna Sea to take fish illegally. There was a chase between Indonesian fishing boats and foreign vessel, which one was a Chinese ship.…”