Three Malaysian-flagged fishing vessels from Vietnam were caught illegally fishing in Bintan waters, Riau Islands, on Thursday.

Patrol vessel KP Hiu 14 belonging to the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry arrested 48 Vietnamese citizens, who were crew members of the three boats. Another vessel detected by the ministry managed to escape into Malaysian waters.

The ministry’s fishery and maritime resources monitoring directorate general’s  (PSDKP) Batam office head Akhmadon said the three Vietnamese vessels were detained as they trawled around 22 miles off Bintan Island.

“Foreign fishing vessels have gone deeper into Indonesian waters while in previous cases, they only dared to fish in border areas. It’s very ironic to see that rampant illegal fishing practices continue despite our tough law enforcement against perpetrators by destroying their vessels,” said Akhmadon on Friday.

The three vessels are machine vessel KM Murkhan 5, with 22 crew members, KM Karang 6 with 21 crew members and KM JMS 00637 with five crew members.

Patrol personnel found 3 tons of different types of fish inside cooler facilities on the three vessels.

“We have secured them [vessels and fish] as evidence. We are coordinating with the immigration office to legally process the 48 crew members and hope that they will be deported immediately,” said Akhmadon.

He said the crew members of the three vessels would be charged under Law No.45/2009 on fisheries. “It is hoped that within 30 days, their case documents can be handed over to the court,” said Akhmadon. (ebf)

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