JAKARTA - Director General of Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision, Ministry of Marine Affairs of Fisheries (Dirjen PSDKP KKP) Pung Nugroho Saksono (Ipunk) presents challenges in preventing and taking action against illegal fishing (fish theft) in the North Natuna Sea, Riau Islands.
"Kepri or the North Natuna Sea is one of the areas prone to IUU Fishing, especially ships from Vietnam," said Ipunk at the Batam PSDKP Base, Riau Islands, quoted by Antara, Saturday, June 21.
Ipunk explained the challenges of preventing and taking illegal fishing, not being reported and irregular or illegal, unreported, unregulated (IUU) Fishing in the discussion on the working visit of the Commission IV DPR RI Team at the Batam PSDKP Base.
He said the North Natuna Sea or the State Fisheries Management Area of the Republic of Indonesia (WPPNRI) 711 has the potential for fisheries to reach 1.3 tons per year. So that it becomes an attractive location for foreign fishing vessels, especially Vietnam.
"WPPNRI 771 is directly adjacent to Vietnam, where the boundaries of the Indonesian and Vietnamese seas have not yet been completed," he said.
Ipunk explained that Vietnam uses the continental take-off law as its border area (under the sea), while Indonesia uses the Exclusive Economic Zone or EEZ (over the waters).
The continental landscape, he said, was about 200 miles from the outermost islands to the end of the trough. Meanwhile, the EEZ is only 200 miles from the outermost islands. So that this area becomes a gray zone that has not yet finished its border, so Vietnamese fishermen take fish in the area.
"This condition makes Natuna fishermen often report foreign ships entering the area," he said.
Based on data from the KKP, the gray zone has not been used by Indonesian ships from Natuna fishermen, so to manage the area, the KKP welcomes Indonesian fishing boats operating at WPPNRI 712 in the Jaya Sea to move to Natuna.
With this management, according to Ipunk, it makes Vietnamese fishermen afraid to enter the North Natuna area. Because the officers will immediately take action if caught entering Indonesian territory.
"But the KKP policy is not just smooth. Fishermen from Natuna protest why ships from Java enter. It is also a 'PR' for us to mediate this," he said.
In addition to the challenges related to the zone, said Ipunk, the KKP also faces challenges with law enforcement from other countries in border areas.
Often there is friction between the KKP and Vietnam's coast guard. Even the perpetrators of the theft of fish dare to fight the KKP officers.
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"If they are here (the detention house) they look quiet, but if they are at sea they are fierce against us," he said.
The Vietnamese crew members, he said, were caught stealing fish, trying to crash the KKP ship, arming themselves with sharp weapons, and throwing ropes into the sea so that the KKP ship's propellers were wrapped.
"For additional information, they are also often escorted by their coast guard. So we are enemies of coast guards and ships that are impacted in the field," said Ipunk.
During the 2020-2025 period, the KKP arrested 920 illegal fishing vessels, consisting of 736 Indonesian vessels and 184 fishing vessels. Meanwhile, for the Riau Islands area itself, 147 vessels have been arrested, with details of 85 Indonesian vessels and 62 foreign fishing vessels.
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