Excerpt from Law No. 1 of 2022 on Financial Relations between the Central Government and Regional Governments, Article 119:

(1) Revenue Sharing Funds (DBH) for fisheries natural resources, as referred to in Article 111 paragraph (3) letter e, are set at 80% of the revenues from fisheries business levies and fisheries production levies.

(2) DBH for fisheries natural resources, as mentioned in paragraph (1), is distributed to districts/cities across Indonesia and provincial regions that are not part of autonomous districts/cities, taking into account the size of the maritime territory.

This one-day discussion was attended by more than 150 participants, both in person and virtually, involving competent speakers from various stakeholders, including the central government, regional governments, and academia.

The central government was represented by The Ministry of Home Affairs through the Regional Revenue Directorate, Directorate General of Regional Financial Development,  The Ministry of Finance through the General Transfer Fund Directorate of the Directorate General of Fiscal Balance, Directorate of PNBP SDA and KND, Directorate General of Budget, and Local Taxes and Regional Levies Directorate of the Directorate General of Fiscal Balance

The regional government was represented by Central Java Bappeda, Marine and Fisheries Department of West Nusa Tenggara Province, Fisheries Department of Central Maluku Regency. The discussion also involved expert teams from IPB University and the University of Indonesia.

“Regarding the issue of DBH, particularly in the fisheries sector, there are many aspects that need to be considered, including the fairness for provinces and districts/cities that contribute more to PNBP. Perhaps a larger DBH allocation should be considered for provinces. This is because fisheries governance is currently divided between the central and provincial governments, with waters beyond 12 nautical miles under central authority, while waters within 12 nautical miles fall under provincial jurisdiction.” said Ukon Ahmad Furkon, Director of Licensing and Fisheries Affairs (PDK), Directorate General of Capture Fisheries (DJPT), KKP.

Another issue discussed was regional levies on fish auction services, where District/City Fisheries Services collect levies for Fish Auction (TPI) built by the regional government and then the Regional Government conducts an auction process. According to Ukon, this creates a perception of dualism or duplication, as the central government collects PNBP for vessels with central-issued licenses using a specific formula. Then, when the fish land, some local governments also collect retribution using a similar formula, i.e., percentage multiplied by volume.

This discussion is a response by KKP to public dynamics, particularly critical voices from the regions questioning the process and mechanism of revenue sharing and PNBP. Muhammad Abdi, Special Assistant to the Minister for the Measured Fishery Catch Program, stated this.

KKP has also received a letter from the Inspector General of the Ministry of Finance containing 11 recommendations related to PNBP management in fisheries natural resources. One of the recommendations is a request for KKP to conduct a study on the utilization of revenue-sharing funds for the development or maintenance of port infrastructure.

Key points from the discussion include: first, the preparation of technical guidelines. The Ministry of Finance is expected to prepare technical guidelines on the flow of PNBP collection in the fisheries sector, particularly capture fisheries as part of natural resource utilization. Second, retributions from TPI services have so far been under the authority of regency/city governments, but the TPI locations are within port areas under provincial authority. To address this, interregional cooperation (KAD) is needed between governors and regents/mayors through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on TPI management, including funding and revenue sharing.