Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) seized as many as 83 fishing vessels that conducted illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing) in the Indonesian waters from January to July 2022.

Director-General of Marine and Fishery Resources Supervision of the KKP Adin Nurawaluddin stated that out of the 83 vessels, some 11 foreign fishing vessels were from Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

"As a result of the operation of the supervisory vessels throughout the first semester of 2022, we managed to seize around 83 fishing vessels comprising 72 Indonesian fishing vessels, eight foreign fishing vessels bearing Malaysian flags, one foreign fishing vessel bearing the Philippines flag, and the last two being Vietnamese-flagged ships," Nurawaluddin revealed in Jakarta on Monday.

He noted that the Malaysian fishing vessels were captured in the Malacca Strait, the Philippines vessel was seized on the border of North Sulawesi with the Philippines, while fishing vessels from Vietnam were secured in North Natuna.

"The last to be seized was a Vietnamese ship on July 24, 2022, by Tiger Shark Watch Vessel 01. Prohibited fishing tools that were not environmentally friendly were found in the vessel, such as trawling nets, which were pulled by two ships we know as a pair of trawling nets or two pairs of ships pulling nets," he explained.

The Vietnamese fishing vessel was loaded with 11 tons of fish and a crew of 14 people aboard two vessels.

He noted that the KKP had implemented an integrated monitoring system in supervising marine and fishery activities in the Indonesian waters.

The monitoring started with real-time surveillance using satellites and then utilized reports from the Community Monitoring Group (Pokmaswas) comprising fishermen and then validated the reports using water surveillance to ensure information received from satellites and Pokmaswas.

Fishing vessels that violated the regulations would be caught and escorted to the nearest base for further legal action.

Nurawaluddin also praised one of the supervisory officers, Captain Samson, who led the Tiger Shark Supervisory Vessel 01 from 2004 to 2022. He successfully caught 1,001 fishing vessels that violated the fishing regulation in the Indonesian waters.

Related news: Two foreign fishing vessels detained for poaching in Natuna waters
Related news: Indonesia corners 15% share of global tuna production

Translator: Aditya Ramadhan, Resinta S
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
Copyright © ANTARA 2022