TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Marine and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said she captured 22 fishing ships from China in Arafuru waters, southern East Papua, on Sunday. “I received info yesterday that we caught 22 300-GT (gross tonnage) Chinese ships,” said Susi on Monday.
Susi said the ships were detected by automatic identification system (AIS), which is a standard system from International Maritime Organization for detecting ships with size above 200 GT.
Susi has written an official note regarding the Chinese ships that violated maritime borders and stole fish from Indonesian waters so that the illegal fishing issue will not be left unsolved. “So, we can get a follow-up from there,” said Susi.
The official note has been submitted to Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to be sent to the Embassy of China i Indonesia. “We will take persuasive action,” said Susi.
She added that there is still no decision yet whether the ships will be sunk or not. “If the president instructs them to be sunk, then we will sink them. If not, then we will give them to fishermen,” said Susi.
DEVY ERNIS
