The skipper was accused by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency of having violated the country's Fisheries Act 1985 as revealed by such proofs as 100 kg of caught fish, a GPS navigation device, and a motorboat, Anang Firdaus said.
The Indonesian Consulate General in Johor Bahru has provided the fishing boat's skipper and another fisherman with consular assistance, said Firdaus, the consulate general spokesman, in a statement that ANTARA quoted here Sunday.
The skipper is facing the court proceedings while his crew member will be handed over to the Malaysian immigration authority for allegedly entering the country without proper documents, he said.
The two traditional fishermen, Pendi (43) and Abdul Gani (35), who reside in Mantang Riau Hamlet of Mantang Lama Village, Mantang Subdistrict, Bintan District, Riau Islands Province, departed for fishing on Sept 18, 2020.
But, the relatives of the two fishermen who are used to fishing for three days failed to contact them until Sept 22, according to Head of the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI)-Bintan Chapter Buyung Adli.
For the fishing activities, Pendi and Abdul Gani equipped their 10-meter-long wooden motorboat with a GPS device and fishing gears, Adli said, adding that their boat might have got troubled and drifted away to the Malaysian waters.
They were then detained by the Malaysian maritime authority, Adli said.
ANTARA pointed to the repeatedly arrests of several Indonesian fishermen for allegedly poaching in foreign countries' waters.
On March 3, 2020, for instance, 12 Acehnese fishermen were arrested by the Indian Navy in the waters off Nicobar Island in the eastern Indian Ocean for poaching.
According to Deputy Secretary of Aceh Sea Commander (Panglima Laot) – the tribal leaders in Aceh fishing community – Miftah Cut Adek, the 12 Acehnese fishermen departed Lampulo Port on February 29 at 6:15 p.m. local time aboard the BSK motorboat, with a capacity of 5.9 GT.
The 12 fishermen are the skipper Afdal, and crew members Idris Manaf, Ferri, Saiful Abu Bakar, M Amin Ismail, M Suid, Afdhoruddin, Zulkarnain, Akarim, Sofyan, M. Aziz, and Sarwan.
The fishing vessel was detained in the waters 55 nautical miles off the Nicobar Island, near the fishing aggregating device number 3 at around 5 p.m. local time, Adek stated.
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Translator: Ogen, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
