Nine fishermen returned home safely to the central province of Quang Ngai in July after their vessel was sunk by a foreign ship

Indonesian authorities will ensure the safe repatriation and humane treatment of Vietnamese fishermen found in Indonesian waters, Ambassador Pitono Purnomo told Thanh Nien Weekly.

What is the rationale for getting tough on fishermen under the amended Fishery Law?

The objectives of fisheries development are among others to increase the national fishermen’s income and welfare, to control fisheries resources utilization, to generate job opportunity, to promote capture fisheries business as one of the prime economic support by establishing national fisheries industries, as well as to prevent illegal fishing and ensure the national sovereignty in the territorial waters.

Over the recent years, a number of illegal fishing practices have taken place within the Indonesian sea territory. Indonesia has been losing around US$4 billion every year due to illegal fishing activities conducted by foreign fishermen as a whole. In addition, the people and the government of Indonesia are paying greater attention to the importance of the fisheries sector to national economic development… The Indonesian government considers the strategic importance of this sector to be regulated for the benefit and welfare of our people as well as for preventing the illegal fishing in its territories. Thus, it is high time for Indonesia to amend its fishery law to support our national fishing industries, to preserve our marine resources, to optimize fishery resources management, and to make an enormous contribution from fisheries sector to the state revenue and national development.

At a recent conference in Ho Chi Minh City, the Indonesian government said it would encourage foreign investors, particularly those from Vietnam, to join local fish ventures to catch and process fish from Indonesia waters. Has the Indonesian Parliament factored in the fact that this tough bill could jeopardize cooperation?

As long as foreign fishermen are legitimately involved in joint fishing cooperation with local partners, and they do not catch fishes illegally within Indonesian waters, they will certainly contribute to the enhancement of economic cooperation and the enrichment of our existing friendly bilateral relations. In such ways, we think that the fisheries law of Indonesia will not jeopardize the good bilateral cooperation between our two countries. However, Indonesia also needs to take decisive actions against illegal fishing and illicit entry into our territories.

Vietnamese fishermen often stray into foreign waters in general and Indonesian water in particular. Some say they do so not out of a desire to fish illegally, but out of ignorance. Will Indonesian authorities consider this to avoid harming innocent people?

The issue of illegal fishing occurring in our territory has so far been dealt with by the functional institutions with serious attention to the spirit of good friendship and bilateral relation, especially with members of ASEAN. The relevant authorities do their best in cases of illegal fishing to treat Vietnamese fishermen humanely, to examine thoroughly all cases of illegal fishing and they only seize vessels based on found evidence. They engage in close contact and coordination with the Vietnamese Embassy in Jakarta, and handle all cases in accordance with our national regulations.

Indonesian authorities will be able to tolerate foreign fishermen who unintentionally enter the Indonesian territorial waters due to storms, bad weather or other calamities.

On the other hand, we are of the view that every vessel which is operated off-shore should be equipped with the Global Positioning System (GPS) to avoid straying into prohibited areas. Moreover, every fisherman, particularly the captain, should be well informed about the prevailing laws and the territorial waters before running his vessel across the sea. Therefore, we have organized the above-mentioned seminar in Ho Chi Minh City with a view to sharing and providing comprehensive explanations on Indonesia’s fishing grounds together with its policies and regulations related to illegal fishing.

Under either the old or the new fishery laws, heavy sanctions would be applied by Indonesian authorities as a last resort only when a foreign vessel appears to be dangerous or refuses to comply with the local authorities’ instructions and requests.

The new law states that the foreign vessels will be destroyed only after the fishermen deboard. Will Indonesia authorities be responsible for repatriating them?

The Indonesian government has and always will respect national as well as international legal and moral frameworks to settle matters of foreign fishermen who illegally enter Indonesian territory. Therefore, the newly amended law also attaches strong attention to giving humane treatment and safe repatriation for the foreign fishermen, particularly the Vietnamese fishermen who are found engaging in illegal fishing, based on the traditional friendship and cordial relations between the two nations.

Furthermore, Indonesia truly needs close cooperation and assistance from the Vietnamese government to ensure safe repatriation as well as to minimize the number of fishermen illegally crossing the threshold of our territories. Such cooperation is especially important and needed within the context of our limited facilities and budget to handle the large number of foreign fishermen. As a result, we would highly appreciate it if the Vietnamese government could also take responsibility and coordinate with the Indonesian government in providing Vietnamese fishermen with updated information and explanations on Indonesia-Vietnam sea boundaries as well as laws and regulations.

Last but not least, we would like, once again, to communicate and underline a highly significant message that foreign fishermen should not enter Indonesian waters, whether deliberately or neglectfully, for illegal fishing activities or for any other reason without the permission, since it is considered a breach and violation of not only Indonesia’s laws but also the general standards of international rules. To avoid illegal fishing activities, it is also expected that fishing companies of both countries will be encouraged and facilitated to establish joint fishing business, which some of them have already begun to do. As such, in the future there will be no doubt about our new fisheries law. Hopefully, such positive efforts will further contribute to the enhancement of the bilateral relations of our two nations, particularly in marine and fisheries cooperation.

Reported by An Dien