Captain KM Restu Becomes Suspect In Catching 7 Dolphins In Pacitan

PHOTO VIA BETWEEN

PACITAN - Pacitan Police, East Java has named the captain of KM Restu with the initials JW alias BJ (35) as a suspect in the case of catching seven long-beaked dolphins or spinner dolphins in Pacitan waters.

The captain from Pekalongan, Central Java, was charged with three layers of articles. Apart from violating Law No. 5/1990 on Conservation of Biological Natural Resources and Ecosystems.

JW was also charged with turning off the ship's GPS device, which should have been monitored by the porter, so it was considered illegal fishing.

"We have also charged the suspect with Article 98 of the Job Creation Law Number 11/2020 concerning Amendments to Law Number 45/2009 concerning Fisheries," said Pacitan Police Chief AKBP Wiwit Ari Wibisono, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, January 11.

JW's legal position is getting more difficult because the motor boat that he captained to catch fish in Pacitan waters was not equipped with a fishing permit in the fishing area of Pacitan waters in accordance with the fishing zone.

"So this ship sailed without having a sailing permit in Pacitan waters. This is a violation," he said.

KM Restu, which is led by JW, actually has an operational permit, but only for the territorial waters in Trenggalek Regency. The problem is, as JW and other crew members admit, this "purse seine" type ship departs and sails in Pacitan waters.

The ship with 23 crew members even often sails the open waters to penetrate the waters of the Special Region of Yogyakarta.

"From those coordinates, the person concerned is in Pacitan and up to the Special Region of Yogyakarta. This is what I said was haphazard. The tracking device on the ship was turned off even though the Fisheries Syahbandar needed to monitor the movement of fishing vessels," he explained.

JW allegedly deleted a number of electronic documents on his smartphone which he used to upload a video of seven dolphins caught in the ship's net and placed on the ship's deck.

Efforts to remove it make it difficult for officers in the investigation process. As a result, JW was threatened with Article 48 paragraph 1 in conjunction with Article 32 paragraph Law/11 2008 concerning Electronic Information and Transactions (ITE).

"Because there was information on his cellphone that was removed by the person concerned, it was deleted. Both in the form of video and chat," said the Police Chief.

After being identified as a suspect, JW was immediately detained, while the 22 crew members only served as witnesses and were allowed to return home.

The case itself has come to the attention of the public and law enforcement officials and other stakeholders following the upload of a 14-second amateur video that recorded seven spinner dolphins caught by fishermen and left lying dead on the ship's deck.

The video was uploaded by the skipper, who is none other than JW, and then it went viral on social media which got a lot of criticism from netizens.