Indonesia has taken drastic action, not for the first time, in sinking 30 impounded fishing boats today, according to Channel News Asia, as part of an ongoing campaign against illegal fishing in its waters.
The unmanned boats from the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar were blown up or scuttled across five locations, said Indonesian fisheries minister Susi Pudjiastuti.
Four Indonesian boats were also sunk after they were caught fishing without proper documentation. All had been all caught fishing illegally in the archipelago of more than 17,000 islands.
‘The government is taking stronger and firmer action to enforce regulations to keep our waters safe,’ saod Susi Pudjiastuti.
Indonesia has sunk foreign boats on a number of occasions since the government launched the drive to combat illegal fishing, with President Joko Widodo claiming IUU fishing costs the country’s economy billions of dollars annually.
Indonesia’s policy has raised tensions with other nations in the region, not least when a detained Chinese vessel was destroyed last year.
