166 Illegal Fishing Vessels Captured in 2021

TheIndonesia.co - Indonesian Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries captured 166 vessels carrying out illegal fishing on Indonesian waters in 2021.

Director general of marine and fisheries resources surveillance (PSDKP) at the Ministry, Adin Nurawaluddin, said illegal fishing continued to be one of the main focuses as it aims to balance economic activities by safeguarding the environmental conditions of national waters.

“For 2021, PSDKP is successful in capturing 166 Indonesian and foreign boats,” Nurawaluddin said in a press conference in Jakarta on Monday, December 13. From the total figure, 114 vessels were Indonesian boats, 25 were Vietnamese, 21 were Malaysian, and the remaining six were from the Philippines.

The directorate general also investigated a total of 2,672 boats, which comprised of 2,606 Indonesian fishing vessels and 66 foreign vessel, during the same period.

Nurawaluddin revealed his office also handled 212 legal cases this year, and 157 of those cases has been gone through legal proceedings.

He added that the Ministry remains committed to the fight against illegal fishing, and in the same occasion he revealed that it planned to add more vessels to assist with the monitoring effort. 110-meter vessels are part of the plan to add more strength to guard the waters.

The Ministry is coordinating with the Ministry of National Development Planning (Bappenas) to request for the vessels. Illegal fishing that continues to happen in several areas like the North Natuna Sea has made it urgent for the Ministry to be equipped with large vessels to scare off illegal foreign vessels.

Nurawaluddin said foreign vessels, including from Vietnam, continue to carry out economic activities in national waters because territorial dispute that involve a number of countries has yet to be resolved. Vietnamese coast guard sometimes even accompany the illegal fishing vessels in ship that is larger than the ones belong to the Ministry.

Lack of sufficient equipment, he said, creates challenges in the effort to enforce law in Natuna.