The Directorate General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (Ditjen PSDKP-KKP), arrested 3 illegal fishing boats in the waters of the Malacca Strait.
At least, 2 ships are foreign fishing vessels with Malaysian flags that steal fish, and 1 Indonesian vessel that operates trawl fishing gear in the Indonesian State Fisheries Management Area (WPP-NRI) 571 Malacca Strait.
“As directed by the Minister, we will continue to be firm and be at the forefront of safeguarding marine and fishery resources. There is no slack word to eradicate illegal fishing actors, ”said Plt. Director-General of PSDKP-KKP, Antam Novambar in his statement, Tuesday, January 26.
The first Malaysian flagship with the name KM. JHF 4631 B was arrested on Thursday, January 21, at the coordinate position 01,55,198 ‘N – 102˚09,962’ East Longitude.
As for the second ship, KM. SLFA 4107 operating trawl fishing gear was caught at the position 02,59,184 ‘LU – 10050,609’E on Sunday, 24 January.
Furthermore, Antam said that the 2 ships carried 7 crew members, 3 Malaysian citizens, and 4 Myanmar citizens, respectively. The two vessels are ad hoc in 2 locations, namely Batam PSDKP Base and Belawan PSDKP Station.
Antam explained that initially the catch of illegal foreign fishing boats was characterized by chasing with the authorities.
“These arrests prove that we are not complacent regardless of the conditions. They are also not always easy to catch, we even have to chase,” said Antam.
Then, the Indonesian flagship that was caught was KM. BAROENA on Saturday, January 23. The ship is known to be operating trawl fishing gear without the required fishery documents.
Currently, the captain and crew of the fishing boat are undergoing a further inspection process at the Lampulo PSDKP Base. “We will process all of these vessels in accordance with applicable regulations,” said Antam.
Continuing, Director of Fleet Monitoring and Operations, Pung Nugroho Saksono asked his staff to remain vigilant even though the current weather conditions at sea are not good.
Based on previous experience, this condition is often used by fish thieves. Therefore, he has instructed his staff to carry out operations while still paying attention to the safety aspects of the ship and crew.
“This arrest is one proof that the perpetrators of illegal fishing are trying to exploit loopholes because they think there is no petrol in the middle of this sea condition,” said Nugroho.
