The Maritime Affairs and Fishery Ministry informed that Indonesia loses Rp9.4 trillion due to fish theft every year. He also informed that the main areas where fish theft happens frequently are the Natuna Sea, Arafuru and northern Sulawesi. Syahrin Abdurrahman, the Maritime Affairs and Fishery Resources Supervision (PSDKP) director general, in Jakarta said that the government focuses its supervision on the three areas within their capability.
He informed that in 2010 the ministry arrested 140 illegal foreign ships in Indonesian waters. The thefts are often committed by neighboring countries like Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines. From January until April, at least 13 illegal foreign ships have been caught. Yorfartik Nazda, PSDKP directorate general’s supervision ship director, said that fish caught by illegal ships were not counted because the cases were still being processed in court.
According to Yorfartik the sea borders was often the reason for the many fish thefts. Indonesia has border issues with Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Timor Leste. Syahrin said that Indonesia only had 24 monitoring ships and only 17 were equipped with standard weaponry. Therefore, the two ships recently caught will possibly be used as patrol ships. The ministry will improve supervision by increasing the coordination with the maritime law enforcers.
