"We are adding more vessels to effectively combat illegal fishing," said the ministry’s Director General of Marine and Fisheries Resources Surveillance, Pung Nugroho Saksono, on Thursday (November 6).
The ministry has received an additional budget of Rp2 trillion (US$116 million) from Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) to build ten new patrol vessels through a foreign loan from the Spanish government.
Currently, the KKP operates 34 patrol vessels across Indonesia to monitor around 24,000 fishing boats, a figure far from sufficient to ensure effective surveillance.
Saksono stated that ideally, the ministry should operate 70 patrol vessels, but currently only has 34. The new budget will allow for the construction of ten additional vessels, increasing the total to 44.
"To strengthen surveillance against illegal fishing, ideally we should have 70 vessels. At present, we have 34 units, and we would be grateful to have at least 50. This additional budget will bring the total to 44 vessels, which is still below the ideal number," he said.
Despite limited resources, the ministry continues to conduct surveillance operations across Indonesian waters and has begun to see improvements in enforcement.
The new patrol vessels will later be deployed in areas prone to illegal fishing, including the North Natuna Sea, the Arafura Sea, the Sulawesi Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
Commission IV previously approved an additional Rp2 trillion (US$116 million) budget for the KKP to build ten new patrol vessels through a foreign loan from the Spanish government.
The funding will support the implementation of the Maritime and Fisheries Integrated Surveillance System (MFISS) project, which aims to strengthen the monitoring and eradication of illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
The MFISS project is expected to help prevent the loss of non-tax state revenue from the marine and fisheries sector while enhancing Indonesia’s technology-based integrated marine resource monitoring system.
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Translator: Resinta Sulistiyandari
Editor: Primayanti
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