5 Vietnamese Ships Confiscated, KKP Invite Indonesian Fishermen To Use It

Illustration of the Indonesian Navy catching a foreign vessel Vietnam carried out illegal fishing in the North Natuna Sea in September 2020. (ANTARA-HO-Dispenal)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) revealed that fishermen can utilize five foreign fishing vessels (KIA) with Vietnamese flags who were arrested in Indonesian waters for using prohibited fishing gear (trawl). "Five foreign fishing vessels caught we can be used and handed over to fishing groups," said the Director General of Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision, Adin Nurawaluddin when met in Jakarta, Friday, February 2, confiscated by Antara.

However, Adin did not explain in detail how the five KKP confiscated ships could be used by Indonesian fishermen.

Furthermore, Adin said which areas are prone to fishing by foreign vessels. The North Natuna Sea is one of these vulnerable areas because Vietnamese-flagged vessels are still often found.

The entry of Vietnamese ships in Natuna, said Adin, was due to the process of completing the sea boundary cooperation agreement between Indonesia and Malaysia and Indonesia and Vietnam. "So there are still areas where legal certainty is still needed regarding additional areas of the coastline," he also said.

He said the decision regarding Indonesia's maritime boundaries with Vietnam had also been discussed by the government and had entered the final stage.

"I participated at the last meeting, the meeting between the ministers of the agreement between Vietnam and Indonesia was final because the order of President Joko Widodo to resolve the territorial boundaries of all countries between Indonesia and Vietnam Indonesia and Malaysia so that there was legal certainty there so that our sovereign territory was clear there," he said.