TheJakartaPost

Please Update your browser

Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.

Jakarta Post

Ministry to notify foreign govts of vessel seizures

The Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry plans to set up a more efficient notification system to ensure that countries whose fishing vessels are frequently involved in poaching cases are promptly informed of the seizure of their ships

Tama Salim (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Sat, May 30, 2015

Share This Article

Change Size

Ministry to notify foreign govts of vessel seizures

T

he Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry plans to set up a more efficient notification system to ensure that countries whose fishing vessels are frequently involved in poaching cases are promptly informed of the seizure of their ships.

The head of the task force for the prevention and eradication of illegal, unreported and unrelated (IUU) fishing, Mas Achmad Santosa, said that minister Susi Pudjiastuti would establish notification systems for countries, such as China, Thailand, Vietnam and the Phillippines, whose ships have borne the brunt of President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo'€™s ship-sinking policy.

Last Wednesday, coinciding with the country'€™s 107th commemoration of National Awakening Day, the government sunk 41 foreign fishing vessels found guilty of poaching in Indonesian waters.

The ministry sunk one Chinese vessel, two from Vietnam, five from Malaysia, two from Thailand and 11 from the Phillippines, with the Indonesian Navy disposing of the remaining ships.

'€œIbu Susi will establish a hotline with [those countries] often caught up in IUU fishing practices. The task force is also helping the minister set up an online case-tracking system [OCTS] that charts and monitors the legal status of each investigation,'€ Achmad told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Achmad added that the database would update investigations currently handled by the ministry, the Navy, the National Police and the Maritime Security Board (Bakamla).

Susi previously said her ministry would establish an online system that would increase cooperation among law enforcers in capturing illegal poachers. At the moment, those institutions operate independently from each other.

'€œNormally, the Navy reports to the Foreign Ministry and then the foreign minister informs the [respective] embassy. I don'€™t know where the missing link is, but I'€™d like this exercise to be faster and bring it online,'€ she said to an audience including several foreign ambassadors in Central Jakarta on Thursday.

The announced efficiency drive comes following recent protests by related countries, with China especially expressing its '€œconcerns'€ regarding the sinking of one of its ships last Wednesday.

Achmad said the task force had met with Chinese diplomats on behalf of Susi to clarify the situation.

'€œI received a Chinese delegation led by Wang Li Ping, the minister counsellor for economic affairs and commerce. I reiterated that the ship-sinking was the implementation of the 2009 case'€™s final and binding verdict,'€ he said, referring to the case of the 300 gross-ton (GT) Chinese-built Gui Xei Yu 12661.

The Gui Xei Yu 12661 was taken into custody on June 20, 2009, for fishing in Indonesia'€™s Exclusive Economic Zone (ZEE) in the South China Sea without the required legal documents.

Achmad explained that the ensuing vessel-sinking on May 20 was the final step in a comprehensive legal process, and for which prior consent had been sought with the presiding court.

The former antigraft official said the sinking of the ship was aimed at deterring poachers.

'€œOur allies are expected to understand the long history of IUU fishing in Indonesia. We'€™ve been struggling with the issue for decades and still haven'€™t resolved it,'€ he said, citing two recent trials in which the local justice system appeared to fail to mete out proper punishment.

The Ambon Fisheries Court has twice delivered a disappointing verdict in the trials of Chinese-linked fishing vessels, according to Achmad.

In one trial, the 4,306-gross ton (GT) tramper MV Hai Fa escaped with a Rp 200 million (US$15,130) fine, while five Chinese-built ships owned by PT Sino Indonesia Shunlida Fishing escaped with an even more lenient punishment of Rp 100 million in fines.

To guard against such disappointing verdicts in the future, Achmad said the ministry was in the process of improving interinstitutional synergy and coordination, capacity building for law enforcers and the implementation of corporate criminal liability.

{

Your Opinion Matters

Share your experiences, suggestions, and any issues you've encountered on The Jakarta Post. We're here to listen.

Enter at least 30 characters
0 / 30

Thank You

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. We appreciate your feedback.