Batam, Batamnews - Actions of illegal fishing by foreign vessels still frequently occur in Indonesian waters. So far, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) claims to have caught dozens of fishing vessels.

KKP Secretary-General Antam Novambar said a total of 67 fishing vessels were successfully secured. Seven of them are foreign vessels, namely 5 ships with Malaysian flag and 2 ships with Vietnamese flag.

"Meanwhile, 60 other fishing vessels have Indonesian flags that violate the provisions," said Antam, who also serves as Plt. Director-General of Supervision of Marine and Fisheries Resources (PSDKP), Monday (5/4/2021).

He also added that during this year until April 2021, 26 foreign ships that had received an inkrah decision had been sunk.

Of the 26 ships that were sunk, 10 were sunk in Batam waters, 4 ships in Pontianak, 2 ships in Aceh, and 10 ships in Natuna.

"This ship sinking was also assisted by the prosecutor's office, to produce FADs," he said.

Meanwhile, Director of Fleet Monitoring and Operations, Pung Nugroho Saksono explained that the ship was known to operate a pair of trawl fishing gear that was towed by two ships so that it had a large destructive effect.

"This fishing gear has low selectivity, has a wide sweep, so all big and small fish will be caught," said Ipunk.