KKP Reveals the Majority of Illegal Fisheries Importers Rl Originated from China

Director of Fisheries Resources Supervision of the Directorate General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision (PSDKP) KKP Halid K Jusuf (right). (Photo: Theresia Agatha/VOI)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) revealed that China is the main country of origin for the import of illegal fishery commodities into Indonesia, especially through the Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta.

Director of Fisheries Resources Supervision of the Directorate General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision (PSDKP) KKP Halid K. Jusuf said that the findings were the result of supervision and action taken by his party against illegal fishery import activities throughout 2025.

"The origin of imports is usually from China," Halid said in a press conference at his office, Tuesday, January 13.

Halid explained that in 2025, his party had handled illegal import cases related to fish feed raw materials.

Handling is carried out at a number of major ports, such as Tanjung Priok, Jakarta, and Tanjung Perak, Surabaya, with a total of around 30 containers found.

According to Halid, the import of fishery commodities is generally carried out to meet domestic needs that are still unmet, such as salem fish and puffer fish.

"Usually what is imported is salem or bloated fish, because the salem fish needs to be screened, yes, so the bloated fish is still very lacking in Indonesia, so it is imported," he said.

Based on the supervision of the import of the fisheries sector carried out in accordance with the recommendations of the ministry's commodities (RK), KKP noted the potential economic value that was successfully saved amounted to around IDR 9.3 billion.

In addition to cracking down on illegal imports, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries has also tightened supervision of legal fisheries imports, especially in terms of distribution and allocation.

"So it's not only illegal, the legal one if it doesn't comply with the provisions, the distribution is not in accordance with it, we also do supervision," he explained.

As of January 5, 2026, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries revealed that there were nearly 100 tons of illegal or frozen pacific mackerel imported into Indonesia.

The illegal import of salem fish was carried out by PT CBJ which entered the Container Terminal, Tanjung Priok Port, Jakarta.

PT CBJ is known as a company engaged in the large-scale trade of fishery products and fish freezing industry.

The company has cold storage facilities and is located in the Penjaringan fishing port area, North Jakarta (Jakut).