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Another boat arrested for illegal fishing in Talaud waters

Bitung, Ekuatorial – Another boat was arrested by officials allegedly for illegal fishing in Talaud waters of North Sulawesi on Sunday (12/4), said an official on Tuesday (14/4).

“It was arrested by Bitung Marine and Fisheries Monitoring Task Force officials aboard Macan Tutul 001 vessel while trying to fish illegally in Talaud waters, near Mianggas island,” said Pung Nugroho Saksono, head of Bitung PSDKP.

They also detained nine Filipinos and one Indonesia as they did not have official documents. “The vessel does not provide any documents,’ said Saksono. “More over, this vessel uses two flags, Philippines and Indonesia, along with more than dozens of jerrycans contain 25 liters of diesel each.

Furthermore, he said that the ship, which allegedly owned by a business man from Sangihe, North Sulawesi, was departing General Santos of the Philippines to catch tuna. They deliberately used two flags to pass the borders between Indonesia and the Philippines.

Meanwhile, Pitres Sambowadile, a Sangihe resident, pleaded for the government when arresting foreign vessels in the areas as many Indonesians were also working in those boats and were familiar of using two flags.

“Burning foreign vessels is necessary to ensure the country’s sovereignty,” said Sambowadile. “But, think about those crews working there are also Indonesians. The arrest of these vessels will have impact on the economy of local residents. They will lose their jobs. The government need to find solution for this problem.”

Indonesia has drowned 13 foreign vessels, coming from Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, and Malaysia, between December 2014 to February 2015.

“President Joko Widodo has strong commitment to fight illegal fishing, one of them is through drowning foreign vessels,” said Indroyono Soesilo, Coordinating Ministry for Maritime in a recent lecturer in Manado. “Three Philippines vessels drowned in Talaud Island, North Sulawesi last year.”

While other vessels, four from Vietnam, five from Thailand, and one from Malaysia, were drowned in Natuna water, Raja Ampat, Ambon, Tarempa, Dempo, and Belawan waters. Yoseph Ikanubun

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