More vessels to be sunk, fishing firms to be closed

According to The Jakarta Post Mon, June 22 2015


The Maritime Resources and Fisheries Ministry revealed on Monday that it would sink 19 more foreign vessels that were fishing illegally in Indonesian waters and freeze five fishing companies for tax evasion.

The director general of maritime resource and fishery supervision at the ministry, Asep Burhanuddin, said the 19 ships were among a total of 73 foreign vessels that have been processed in accordance with Indonesian law.

“Of the 19 ships that will be sunk, 13 are in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, five in Merauke, Papua, and one in Belawan, North Sumatra,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

Of the 13 vessels located in Pontianak, 11 belong to Vietnamese fishing companies and two belong to Thai companies.

Asep said his division was waiting for a green light from the maritime resources and fishery minister for the sinking.

Since January 2015, the ministry has investigated more than 2,000 local and foreign ships in Indonesian waters and 73 were allegedly found to have fished illegally.

“Of the 73 vessels processed, 19 have been proven guilty of violating the law and we are waiting approval to sink them,” he said.

Separately, Minister of Maritime Resources and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti said the government would likely freeze the operation of five fishing companies for their failure to give accurate reports on their catches to the government.

“The five companies must soon stop their operations after their fishing licenses are frozen because of their failure to reveal financial reports to the government,” she said, adding that her ministry has coordinated with the Finance Ministry regarding the five companies’ legal violations.



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