REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The maritime affairs and fisheries ministry will focus on dealing with destructive fishing practices across the Indonesian waters in 2016.
"In 2016, we will target destructive fishing practices," the ministry's Director General for Supervision of Maritime Natural Resources and Fisheries Asep Burhanuddin stated during a discussion on the 2015 Reflection and the 2016 Outlook here on Wednesday.
His office will monitor fishing practices in the outermost islands, in particular.
Advocacy will also be provided to Indonesian fishermen facing legal charges in other countries.
In the meantime, the ministry took punitive action against a total of 157 fishing boats for conducting illegal fishing activities in the Indonesian waters in 2015.
The 157 boats comprised 84 foreign fishing boats and 73 Indonesian boats, Burhanuddin noted.
Of the 84 foreign boats, 46 bore Vietnam's flag, 19 were Philippine-flagged boats, 12 flew the Malaysian flag, and nine had operated under the Thai flag.
The ministry, in cooperation with the Indonesian Navy and Police, sank a total of 121 boats since October 2014.
The 121 boats that were sunk included 39 ships of Vietnam, 36 of the Philippines, 21 of Thailand, 12 of Malaysia, two of Papua New Guinea, one of China, and 10 of Indonesia.
Last year, the ministry had deployed 27 patrol boats that managed to supervise 5,206 fishing boats in the country's waters.
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