Ministry deploys more patrol boats in Malacca Strait

JP/Arief SuhardimanThe Maritime Affairs and Fishery Ministry will continue to increase supervision in the Indonesian Exclusive Economic Zone in the Malacca Strait to prevent illegal fishing.

“Five patrol boats from the ministry have been operating in the Malacca Strait over the past one month,” Belawan Station fishery resources supervision chief Mukhtar said on Tuesday.

Previously, there were only two patrol boats operating in the narrow strait, which is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world.

The patrol boats conduct continuous patrols along Sumatra’s eastern coast from Aceh down to Lampung.

One of the patrol boats, Hiu Macan 005, recently captured a Thai fishing vessel entering Jambo Aye waters in Aceh on Feb. 7. The 100-gross ton fishing vessel is currently impounded at Gabion Wharf in Belawan, North Sumatra, together with the skipper and 10 crew members.

Questioning by ministry officials showed that the Thai vessel entered Indonesian waters without proper documents.

Earlier, the ministry’s Statistical Data and Information Center head, Yulistyo Mudho, told reporters in Jakarta that illegal fishing activities were still rampant in a number of locations in Indonesia.

The ministry’s patrol boats’ most common catches are illegal fishermen from China, Malaysia and Thailand, he said.

“Currently the ministry only has 26 small patrol boats which are still far from sufficient to cover all of Indonesia’s waters,” Yuslityo said.

Ideally, each province would have two patrol boats to target illegal fishing problems, he added. (nvn)