Illegal fishing boats to be sunk, minister says

JAKARTA: Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Freddy Numberi threatned Friday he would sink every foreign fishing boat operating illegally in Indonesian waters.

"That is stipulated under the law. No need to worry. Such action is needed as shock-therapy for them.

After sinking the boats, we wll send the crews to their home countries," Freddy said at Widyatama University in Bandung, West Java, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.

Freddy claimed that he had sunk more than 100 illegal foreign fishing boats since 2004.

"If we use conventional methods, suspects would face trial"

He said foreign ships are allowed to operate here as long as their owners runs a factory in Indonesia.

Freddy said that the government would soon sign agreements in the fisheries sector with Vietnam, Thailand and Phillipines. - JP