D

espite Indonesia’s tough stance against poaching, foreign boats are still finding ways to steal maritime resources.

During an impromptu inspection at Bali’s Benoa Port on Tuesday, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti claimed that almost 100 foreign fishing boats had been modified to enable them to operate in the country’s waters.

Boat owners, in cooperation with local companies, modify fishing boats made of fiberglass by covering them with wooden panels so they look like local vessels when out on the water.

“We’ve just found that there are many former foreign boats changing clothes so they can still fish in our waters. This is inexcusable and violates the law,” Susi said.

Foreign boats were required to return to their respective countries for deregistration and were not allowed in Indonesian waters after a 2014 moratorium on foreign fishing vessel permits ended on Oct. 31 last year.

When the moratorium was first imposed, Indonesia apprehended 152 former foreign vessels and banned them from fishing around Benoa. Of the total, 134 were from Taiwan and eight from China, while the remainder were from Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

After a recent series of investigations at the port, the ministry’s illegal fishing prevention task force found that only 63 boats remained. Some, indeed, have returned to their countries, but many have allegedly only changed their appearance.

Dock worker Mohammad Rohani, 47, admitted that many fiberglass boats were modified to look like wooden vessels. But he claimed not to know that what he and other workers did was a crime, saying they simply followed orders from a local company.

Moreover, during the inspection Susi found that many modified boats also had their weights manipulated. Most of them were boats with a typical weight of 50 to 80 gross tonnage (GT), but their documents cited 30 GT or less.

By manipulating the figures, owners can avoid complicated permit processes with the central government, because boats below 30 GT can secure permits from regional administrations.

The data falsification would also enable them to receive diesel subsidies, which are only available for boats under 30 GT. As a consequence, the country has suffered millions of rupiah in losses.