KKP Captures 82 Illegal Fishing Vessels Throughout 2021

A unit of a trawl fishing boat was arrested by the authorities at the Lampulo pier, Banda Aceh, Aceh. (Photo: Ampelsa / Antara)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) has arrested 82 vessels carrying out illegal fishing or stealing fish either by Indonesian fishing vessels (KII) or foreign fishing vessels (KIA).

"From PSDKP, since the beginning of the year until now 82 ship units, including KII. Of the 82 KII as many as 68 ships, and KIA 14 ships," said Secretary of the Directorate General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision (PSDKP) of KKP Suharta in an online press conference which was monitored in Jakarta, as reported by Antara, Thursday, 29 April.

Suharta said, of the 14 foreign fishing vessels that were caught from Vietnam and Malaysia, seven were each. In fact, the KKP has also accommodated more than 500 Vietnamese boat crews who were caught stealing fish in Indonesian waters.

Suharta said that North Natuna waters, which are the border areas with Vietnam and Malaysia, are often a place for illegal fishing by foreign vessels. North Natuna waters have abundant fishery resources because it is a shallow sea and also a confluence of ocean currents where fish gather.

Based on an analysis from the Indonesia Ocean Justice Initiative (IOJI) using satellite imagery, the intensity of illegal fishing activities in North Natuna waters in 2021 it begins to occur in February and increases in number in April. IOJI researchers said that Vietnamese fishing boats extract fishery resources in North Natuna using trawlers that can sweep a variety of marine life including coral reefs and small fish.

According to him, North Natuna waters often become a place for fishing by foreign vessels. According to him, there are several obstacles that cause the practice of illegal fishing in the North Natuna region to continue.

"It must be admitted that our supervisory vessels are very limited in number and capacity to catch up from Natuna Island. It takes 10-12 hours at the maximum speed of our ships. This is used by them," said Suharta. Apart from that, Indonesian fishermen rarely look for fish in the waters of North Natuna.

The modus operandi of illegal fishing by Vietnamese fishing vessels was scattered in various directions while waiting for the Indonesian supervisors to be negligent. Even Vietnamese fishing boats are escorted by coast guards from their countries in stealing fish in North Natuna waters.

"So detection from their coast guard, their fishing boats enter, as soon as we chase them, they re-enter their territory, so it's like playing cat and mouse," said Suharta.

Suharta said that the trend of catching foreign vessels by officers is decreasing. Where before in one operation they could capture four to five ships, now they can only get one to two ships with the maximum effort.

"This is our difficulty from the side of the means, from the side of the ship. To deal with thieves, they are more resilient," he said.

However, Suharta emphasized that stakeholders such as the KKP, the Maritime Security Agency, the Indonesian Navy, and the Air Force work together to take turns conducting patrols in North Natuna waters.