REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Marine and Fishery Ministry will sink dozens of foreign vessels detained for conducting illegal fishing in the Indonesian waters.

"Early in July, we will sink some 30 foreign ships," Minister of Marine Affairs and Fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti stated here during a conference on Tuesday.

Minister Pudjiastuti emphasized that the government did not grant special privileges to any country as it equally treated all vessels found conducting illegal fishing in Indonesia.

Several foreign vessels had been detained on suspicion of conducting illegal fishing activities in the Indonesian territory.

Recently, on June 15-16, the government had detained four Vietnamese-flagged vessels and two Philippines-flagged ships for trespassing the border and allegedly conducting illegal fishing in the country's waters.

Meanwhile, on June 12, the government's Orca 003 Surveillance Vessel intercepted seven other Vietnamese-flagged ships, weighing between 60 to 100 gross tonnage, with its 55 crew members, in Indonesia's exclusive economic zone in the Natuna waters, Riau Islands.

Indonesia has been taking key steps in line with the trend of sustainable fishery management policies, including the efforts to fight illegal, unregulated, and unreported (IUU) fishing practices.

Despite the government's policy of detonating and sinking illegal foreign fishing vessels, the authorities continue to encounter ships trespassing into and poaching in the Indonesian waters.

The Indonesian government has, since October 2014, sunk at least 151 foreign ships caught conducting illegal fishing practices in the country's waters, Pudjiastuti revealed.

The vessels involved in IUU fishing that were sunk comprised 50 ships from Vietnam, 43 from the Philippines, 21 from Thailand, 20 from Malaysia, two from Papua New Guinea, and one from China.

The government has also sunk 14 Indonesian-flagged ships involved in IUU fishing.

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