Jakarta, Ekuatorial – Ministry of Marine and Fisheries (MoMF) on Sunday (7/12) captured 22 Chinese illegal vessels in Indonesian waters.
“Yesterday [Sunday] around 3 pm, we arrested 22 vessels from China. They were fishing illegally in Arafuru waters,” said Susi Pudjiastuti, Minister of Marine and Fiisheries, in Jakarta, on Monday (8/12) adding that they were using double flagging to fool guards.
Pudjiastuti added the loss was enormous considering that those vessels weighed 300 gross tonnage (GT). One 100 GT vessel, she cited, can lift up to 50 tons.
“On this day also I would like to inform you that I have delivered protest note to ambassador of China and minister of foreign affairs. If I don’t send official note, I am afraid they will not take it seriously,” she said adding that she had requested for China government to announce to its fishermen to stop stealing from Indonesian waters anymore.
“We have talked before with persuasive approach, heart to heart about illegal fishing. We [Indonesia} would no longer tolerate illegal fishing,” she said firmly.
Previously, three Vietnamese vessels caught stealing fish in Indonesian waters. Under the order of President Joko Widodo, those boats were drowned to ‘make an example’.
Furthermore, Pudjiastuti said that the ministry had formed illegal, unregulated, and unrecorded fishing eradication task force to maximize its effort in protecting Indonesian waters.
The illegal fishing task force, she said, will be responsible to secure and investigate violations in Indonesian waters. Despite still waiting for the ministry regulation, Susi said that she had appointed Mas Achmad Santosa, who was also deputy of Presidential Unit for Development Monitoring and Controlling (UKP4), as head of the task force.
Santosa said that he was very excited and optimistic appointed to deal with violations in marine sector. He said that Indonesia’s welfare has been decreasing because violations in fisheries sector.
“The job mandated by the minister is to ensure better and sustainable marine management,” he said.
He added that his main task was to investigate and verify every violations. In addition, to monitor implementation and regulations, also to allow or revoke permits. “For law enforcement, our task is to gather evidences to be followed up by authorized institutions,” he said. Januar Hakam