Vietnamese boats seized for illegally fishing in Indonesian waters

By The Jakarta Post   June 14, 2016 | 03:14 am PT
Indonesia's Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries has apprehended seven boats sailing under the Vietnamese flag for alleged illegal fishing in Indonesian waters.

“Our Orca 003 patrol vessel escorted seven boats from Vietnam, along with 55 Vietnamese crew members, to the ministry’s Natuna task force on the island of Riau on June 12,” said the secretary to the ministry’s directorate general for maritime and fisheries resources supervision, Waluyo Sejati Abutohir, as quoted by the Antara news agency on Monday.

Waluyo said the seven boats were reportedly fishing in waters off the Natuna archipelago on the morning of June 10 with illegal trawling equipment. The crew members allegedly failed to present permits for fishing in Indonesian waters.

The crews face charges under Article 93 of the 2004 law on fisheries, which carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison and a fine of Rp20 billion ($1.5 million)

Last week, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) also seized two boats and detained 20 Vietnamese fishermen that were trawling Malaysian waters on June 10.

Related news:

Malaysia detains 20 Vietnamese fishermen for intrusion

Vietnamese fishermen in custody after being caught fishing in Thai waters

 
 
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