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Govt seeks amendment to shoot marine poachers on site
The government is seeking an amendment to the 2003 Fishery Law that would allow authorities to shoot foreign vessels on sight if they are caught poaching in Indonesian waters
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The government is seeking an amendment to the 2003 Fishery Law that would allow authorities to shoot foreign vessels on sight if they are caught poaching in Indonesian waters.
Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry director general for marine resources surveillance, Aji Sularso, said in Jakarta on Wednesday that the proposed amendment would be "intensively" deliberated as soon as the House of Representatives resumed its seating period on Jan. 19.
"We expect the amendment to be completed by mid-next year," he said.
Aji said currently the Criminal Code only allowed Indonesian sea patrols to "paralyze" fleeing vessels suspected of breaking the law in an emergency situation.
At sea, he said, these actions could be interpreted as shooting on sight any poaching vessels attempting to flee or resisting arrest, while ensuring the vessel crew is first rescued before the boat is sunk.
Critics say scuttling the vessels, however, may be in breach of the code as it destroys any possible evidence and could potentially lead to human rights violations should the patrols fail to rescue the crew.
"This is exactly the same policy that Australia has been implementing. Why does everybody have to fuss about our intention to do the same?" Aji said.
The shoot-to-sink policy could be the best way for Indonesia to safeguard its economic exclusive water territory and the welfare of its fishermen. Poaching is estimated to cause Indonesia around Rp 30 trillion (US$2.69 billion) in losses annually.
Aji said the sea patrols had been successful in reducing the number of poachers in the marine zone and had boosted the productivity of local fishermen.
The amendment of the law is also expected to improve the settlement of legal cases against poachers, with several articles of the current fishery law regarding sanctions widely open to interpretation.
Aji said legal loopholes frequently led to lenient sentences for convicted poachers and encouraged the acts to continue.
The proposed amendment also suggests more ad hoc fishery courts be established, as currently there are only five nationally.
Indonesia only has 21 vessels in its sea patrol force to safeguard the country's 5.8 million square kilometer marine zone.
The fisheries ministry said it would increase the number of sea patrol vessels to 23 next year, although acknowledged the figure fell short of the 50 vessels required to adequately monitor the area.
Aji said poaching had been continually increasing from year to year in Indonesia, with most perpetrators coming from Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.
