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Illegal fishing being protected in Maluku: Local fishermen
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An official shows the process of sinking of ships through a live telecast at the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry's office on April 6, 2016. (Antara/Rivan Awal Lingga)
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llegal fishing is still rampant in Maluku waters in eastern Indonesia because the perpetrators are being protected, local fishermen claim.
Several fishing companies operating in Seram waters between the provinces of Maluku and North Maluku were cooperating with foreign fishermen, which was forcing local fishermen to fish as far as 60 nautical miles (111,12 kilometers) from where they usually fished, kompas.com reported on Monday.
Reynaldo Pomto, 54, a Filipino who worked as a security guard of one of the companies, said he had been working in the area for two months, adding that his boss instructed him to “just give them my [Reyanldo’s boss] phone number,” if he were to be arrested by Indonesian authorities.
Reynaldo said there were other fellow Filipinos who worked for the same company owned by an ethnic Taiwanese in Bitung, North Sulawesi.
He said he had been working for fishing companies both in the Philippines and Indonesia that focused on fishing in Maluku, North Maluku, Papua and West Papua waters
Nusa Kamu Fishermen Community head Samsul Sia said that illegal fishermen were rampant because certain parties protected them. He added that he witnessed a case where allegedly illegal fishermen had been arrested but were later released because the authorities had been asked to do so.
“Illegal fishermen dare [to operate here] because they are protected,” he said.
Fisherman La Jainudin said it was getting more difficult to catch fish in the area. “We are not protected by the government,” he said.
