Jakarta (ANTARA) - Two Filipino fishing boats, with 21 crew members on board, have been detained for poaching in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Indonesia's fisheries management area (WPP) in the Pacific Ocean.

The boats were apprehended by officers of the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP).

“Today, we announce that we have arrested two ships in a place that we have never caught (illegal fishing vessels in) before: in WPP 717,” Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, Edhy Prabowo, said during an online press conference here on Tuesday.

Officers from the KKP’s Directorate General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision, onboard patrol boat Orca 4, spotted and detained the two boats after a chase, he informed.

Foreign fishermen are using the ongoing pandemic as an opportunity to conduct illegal fishing activities, he said.

"It is important for us to remain vigilant and to increase awareness," he added.

KKP officers remain enthusiastic in carrying out their duties to protect the national waters even in the midst of a pandemic, he remarked.

Knowing that the Sulawesi waters are tightly guarded, foreign poachers have moved to the Pacific Ocean, he said.

Meanwhile, KKP fleet monitoring and operations director Pung Nugroho Saksono stated that the two captured boats had clearly deceived the officers because they could not furnish any identity proof, as mandated by existing regulations.

Besides, they showed photocopied or fake documents belonging to other ships he added.

Saksono said that the foreign fishing boats had initially tried to escape, but the Indonesian authorities had chased and hunted them down. Their crew were finally arrested in waters off Ayu Islands.

Based on KKP data, since October, 2014, a total of 74 illegal vessels — 57 foreign fishing vessels (KIA) and 17 Indonesian fishing vessels (KII) — have been caught by the KKP Fisheries Supervisory Ship.

Of the 57 foreign fishing boats, 27 were Vietnam-flagged boats, 16 Philippine-flagged, 13 Malaysia-flagged, and 1 Taiwan-flagged boat.

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Translator: M Razi Rahman, Fardah
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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