REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- The Maritime and Fishery Ministry will deploy an inspection vessel Orca 04 to halt destructive fishing in the East Nusa Tenggara province border, Ganef Wurgiyanto, provincial fishery bureau (DKP) chairman, stated here, Monday.
"In the upcoming weeks, the vessel will patrol the province," Wurgiyanto said in the E. Nusa Tenggara's capital city, Kupang.
The joint patrol, which included the ministry's 115 Task Force, the Navy, the Maritime Security Board (Bakamla), and the Maritime and Fisheries Resources Monitoring (PSDKP), will oversee some degrading fishing activities, including bombing and fish poisoning in the 200,000 kilometers square waters.
Wurgiyanto further explained the deployment of the 60-meter long and 25-knot vessel was aimed at improving the protection of the country's waters in the border areas with Australia and Timor Leste.
"The authority is now focused on strengthening the patrol in the border areas," he remarked.
Meanwhile, Kupang PSDKP chairman Mubarak stated his agency would support the ministry in launching a patrol in the northern Timor island.
"Following an agreement inked earlier by China and Timor Leste, the Chinese fishermen are now allowed to catch fish in the latter country's seas," Mubarak noted.
Therefore, the joint patrol remained important to anticipate and prevent any border violations committed by Chinese fishermen in the future.
Apart from the Orca 04, the Macan 003 vessel will be deployed within 12 miles area in the waters near Kupang island.
Under the leadership of Maritime and Fishery Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing has become the ministry's focus to restore the sustainability of the country's waters.
Earlier on April 2016, the minister launched the Indonesian Fisheries Inspection Vessel System (SKIPI), which included four ships, ORCA 01, ORCA 02, ORCA 03, and ORCA 04.
Besides the vessels, the ministry had also imposed the trawl ban for the fishermen in the country.
According to the Minister Regulation No.2/2015, the fishing tool would harm the environment and the sustainability in the seas.
However, earlier in July, hundreds of fishermen took to the street near Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, to protest the ban, because they claimed it would hurt the economy of the coastal areas.
During the protest, the fishermen's alliance called on the authority to revoke the ban while performing a further study on the trawl's impact on environment.
Ikuti Whatsapp Channel Republika
