Ministry thwarts illegal fish import from Malaysia to Indonesia

Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) has thwarted the illegal import of fish from Malaysia to Indonesia in the Tarakan area of North Kalimantan.

“Our team also detained the vessel carrying the imported fish, using Indonesian and Malaysian flags. It is clearly a violation, without any official documents,” the ministry’s director-general of Marine and Fisheries Resources Supervision, Pung Nugroho Saksono, said in a press conference on Monday.

Saksono further noted that the seized fish would be handed over to orphanages near the arrest site, as his party had previously done.

Meanwhile, the director of the ministry’s violations department, Teuku Elvitrasyah, drew attention to two indications of violations in the case.

“The first indication is no permit, which will be subject to (violation of) Article 26 of the Employment Act. It could also be related to the import of fishery products, according to Article 88 of the Fisheries Act,” he noted.

The practice came to light when fisheries regulators received information from the public about illegal imports of fish from Malaysia.

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Elvitrasyah said the team in Sebatik, North Kalimantan, monitored and secured the vessel carrying the fish.

The perpetrators did not have health certificates for the fish brought from Malaysia into Indonesian waters.

The measures against illegal fish imports from Malaysia to Indonesia have been taken in response to concerns from Indonesian people and businesses about the presence of vessels illegally importing fish from Malaysia.

Field research has shown that these are pelagic species that are caught in Indonesian waters and then brought to Malaysia by the perpetrators. Some of the fish are sold at the border.

Saksono said his side pays serious attention to securing Indonesian waters, especially in the processing of marine and fisheries resources. His side would ensure that there is no fish theft in the border areas, such as in the Tarakan area.

“We are not sitting still. We will continue to uphold the sovereignty of this nation with regard to violations of marine and fisheries resources,” he stressed.

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