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espite the government’s fight against illegal fishing, numerous foreign-flagged ships have been undeterred as they continue to catch fish in Indonesian waters, forcing patrol vessels to take stern actions against the intruders.

The latest incident took place on Thursday when a government patrol ship arrested three Vietnamese vessels found illegally fishing around the waters of Bintan in Riau Islands province.

An official with the Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Ministry, Akhmadon, said the arrests were made when the foreign ships were catching fish with trawls some 35.4 kilometers from Bintan Island’s shoreline.

He said the ships were moving further into the Indonesian territory.

“This is concerning given we have been conducting law enforcement efforts by sinking many of the arrested ships,” said Akhmadon, head of a working unit at the ministry’s fisheries and marine resources surveillance directorate general.

He added previously foreign ships only committed illegal fishing on border areas.

Akhmadon said the ministry’s decision to sink ships found illegally fishing in Indonesian waters was expected to create a chilling effect. The punishment aimed to decrease the number of illegal fishing practices on border areas such as Riau Islands.

Yet, he said, based on existing records, the number of illegal fishing activities is still as common as in previous years. “The number of arrests we make annually is still the same, about 30 of them,” he said.

He added that since 2014, the ministry’s Maritime and Fisheries Resources Monitoring Task Force (PSDKP) working unit in Batam had arrested 89 foreign fishing ships, of which 33 had been sunken.

He blamed the situation on the wealth of fish resources in Indonesian waters as well as local fishermens’ inability to optimally exploit said resources. This supposedly attracted foreign fishermen to take advantage of the waters.

“Law enforcement has to be conducted according to the human resources of local fishermen. They have to exploit the existing sea,” Akhmadon said.

The three foreign ships arrested were KM Murkhan 5 with its 22 crew members, KM Karang 6 with 21 crew members and KM JMS 00637 with five crew members. All of the crew members were Vietnamese citizens.

Akhmadon said the patrol ship saw four ships working in pairs during the arrest. Yet, due to a limited number of personnel, one of them escaped to Malaysian waters. “We could not catch it,” he said.

He added three tons of fish of different kinds were seized from the ships’ cooling chambers. He said his office was currently coordinating with the immigration office in furthering the legal process.

Akhmadon said the three ships would be charged with violation against Law No 45/2009 on the amendment of Law No 31/2004 on fishery. “Within the next 30 days the case will already be handed over to the court,” he said.

In July, the government arrested 29 foreign-flagged boats for allegedly fishing illegally in domestic waters.

Most of the vessels were apprehended out on Natuna waters in Riau Islands and hailed from neighboring countries including Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Apart from fishing without legal documents, the vessels were found to have used prohibited fishing equipment.

Authorities also seized several pieces of evidence, such as tons of fertilizer for fish bombing. The confiscated fertilizer was allegedly brought into the country by Malaysian fishermen.