Indonesia to sink at least 30 foreign illegal fishing boats early next month

Indonesia has scheduled a plan to sink at least 30 foreign fishing boats caught by the authorities when conducted illegal fishing activities in the nations waters, a minister said here on Tuesday.

Fishery and Maritime Minister Susi Pudjiastuti said that the would-be sank foreign boats have been proved of involved in illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities, arrested by joint teams from her ministry, the navy and water police.

We would sink at least 30 boats from several countries in early July, the minister said in her office here, detailing further on the date of activities to sink those boats on July 9 and 10.

She said Indonesia has sunken a total of 176 foreign fishing boats across the nation since October last year.

Susi said that the warning to sink fishing boats conducting illegal fishing activities in Indonesia had been conveyed to ambassadors of several countries in Indonesia on November 4 last year.

A senior official at the ministry said in a statement earlier that Indonesian joint patrol boats arrested 6 fishing boats, consisted of 4 from Vietnam and 2 from the Philippines in Indonesian waters on June 15 and 16 in Natuna and Sulawesi waters. Enditem