Susi: Boat Sinking Best Deterrent to Eradicate Illegal Fishing
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4 May 2019 19:11 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Minister Susi Pudjiastuti strongly believes that the approach of sinking foreign fishing vessels caught fishing illegally in Indonesian waters would have a deterrent effect and be the key to eradicating illegal fishing.
"During my discussion with the president, I have emphasized that sinking foreign fishing vessels caught fishing illegally will be the best possible deterrent and simplify matters (for the Indonesian people) to tackle problems (such as illegal fishing) that have persisted since long," Minister Pudjiastuti said in the official social media accounts of the Fisheries and Marine Affairs Ministry on Saturday, May 4.
Minister Pudjiastuti, along with the ministry's officials and the Anti Illegal Fishing Task Force, are presently in Pontianak, West Kalimantan, to oversee the sinking of illegal fishing boats.
The minister noted that the deterrent effect was currently apparent from thousands of foreign fishing vessels no longer found fishing in the Indonesian waters. Currently, merely several hundred vessels have been seized.
"If we fail to remain firm, that figure of several hundred could grow to thousands of ships," she remarked, adding that the eradication of perpetrators of fishery thefts had an effect on the fish stocks.
The minister further reiterated that President Jokowi's commitment to this end was also serious, such as by setting up a Task Force, so that sectoral ego can be eliminated in the future along with prioritizing the interests of the state to put an end to illegal fishing.
ANTARA