Fish plundering in Indonesian waters is rampant. Ships from various countries enter into potentiality fish-rich zones, like the Natuna islands, the Sulawesi and Arafura Seas. In one year, losses to the state caused by sea plundering comes to no less than Rp30 trillion. The plunderers work as effieciently as the mafia. A huge ship is anchored in the middle of the ocean, acting as the fence, while other vessels operate as the fuel supplier. There are currently 500 people imprisoned in Indonesia because of illegal fishing.
THE waves of the Arafura Sea gave the MV Huang Wen, a last gentle roll. In Pamako port, Timika, Papua, the white-painted jumbo ship with a Chinese flag is floating calmly. The waves did not rock the vessel too much, particularly since it contained 490 tons of fresh fish.
Not far from MV Huang, the 100 meter-MV Gou Xhum-66 was safely anchored. The ship was also full of fish as many as 120 tons. Close to the harbor, there were 22 other vessels, smaller in size. All carried illegally-caught fish from the waters around Papua and Maluku.
The total weight of the stolen fish to be taken to China and Taiwan was 1,136 tons. According to the head of the Mimika police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Godhelp Cornelis Mansnembra, from the 24 ship crews only 13 were filed as suspects. The captain of MV Huang is still under interrogation. More than 500 crew members are currently detained. “Because our cells are full, they still stay on board.”
The arrested foreign ships are not found only in the Arafura Sea. A team made up of the Navy, Police and staff of the Marine Affairs and FisheriesDepartment also took into custody the unlicensed ships that stole fish from the Natuna waters and Sulawesi Sea. From January through April, 130 vessels from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Burma, and the Philippines were taken into custody.
Foreign ships are eager to operate in the Indonesian exclusive economic zones that are rich in fish reserves. “This is the prime area for fish plundering,” said Aji Sularso, Director General of Supervision and Control of Sea Resources and Fisheries.
First Admiral Sunaryo, the coordinating investigator of illegal fish catching said that the fish plunderers work like the mafia. There are big companies that orchestrate the operation through loans of capital. The operators in the field make a network that involves traffickers and local shipping agents. The capital loan is put down in a contract. The capital owner does not care where the traders or the traffickers get the fish. “What you have to do is to store up the fish,” said Sunaryo.
For the shipment to go smoothly, the sponsoring company or individual capital owner place a mother-ship in the middle of the ocean. That is why most foreign ships are caught while loading their catch into the mother-ship. “The captain of the big ship usually drops anchor in a position to easily escape from Indonesian authorities,” Sunaryo said.
The problem is that it is not easy to uncover the fish-plundering mafia. If arrested, according to Sunaryo, they remain silent when the police are trying to probe the identity of their network.
This condition has been made worse by the mediocrity of the supervisory fleet. Aside from being technically unsophisticated, the number is very small. There are only 20 ships available out of the 50 that are needed,” explained Aji Sularso.
Besides arresting ships bulging with fish, the patrolling Indonesian fleet is often pursuing the boats that got away. The Hiu Macan ship that belongs to the Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries once had the same experience. Last April 14, the patrolling ship caught 17 ships with Taiwan and Vietnam flags well insie the Natuna waters, Riau Islands.
For the fish plunderers, the Natuna waters is like a paradise. Chairman of the Commission on Marine Section of Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Province of Riau Islands, Nasir Harun, revealed that 2,400 foreign ships were feasting on fish during 2006-2007. “Within this area alone the loss has reached Rp1.3 trillion per year,” he said.
Efforts to suppress the theft have been done through raids and license control but the plundering keeps raging. “This year, within just a few preceding months, 300 foreign ships have been arrested,” added Head of the Office of Fisheries and Marine Affairs of the Province of Riau Islands, Amir Faizal.
Around the waters of Merauke regency in Papua, illegal fishing is also rampant. Last January, an Indonesian patrolling ship caught 15 foreign vessels which then led to Tual Seaport, in Southeast Maluku. Last April the local police just finished their investigation there.
“The dossiers have been transferred to the prosecutor,” Chief of Southeast Maluku Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Ony Budyo Suswanto, told Tempo. But the prosecutor has not scheduled the transfer. “It takes time and a big fund,” said Head of the Special Criminal Law Section of Tual Public Prosecutor, Renaldy.
The legal proceedings for cases like illegal fishing have been dragging on for some time. The step taken by the government is to establish special courts for fishery cases in Jakarta, Medan, Pontianak, Bitung, and Tual. Basically, 30 days after the prosecution files ots case, the verdict must have been made. “This is a breakthrough for the fishery court,” said Mahyun Asri, an ad hoc judge for fish theft of the Medan District Court. In the last six months, Mahyun has made nine judgments for eleven cases.
The problem is that oftentimes the verdicts by the ad hoc court confuse the public. For example, in the judgment for In Khanbunrueang, the captain of Faia 355 ship from Thailand arrested in the Natuna waters, the judge sentenced him to with a fine of Rp.3 billion or four months imprisonment. The Faia ship, estimated at Rp6 billion, was confiscated by the authorities. “The convict preferred imprisonment here rather than paying the fine,” he said.
The lightness of the punishment, according to Thomas Wakson Keliat, also an ad hoc judge for fishery cases, is not triggered by the feeble charges of the prosecutor. “The law regulates that way,” he said. It is worth noting that the auction sells the confiscated ships cheaply. “We suspect the winner of the auction is buying back the vessel for the owner, through his accomplices in Indonesia.”
A fishery observer from the Bogor Institute of Agriculture, Arif Satria, said that other countries feel free to clean out the fish from the Indonesian waters because the government is not able to manage this potential sector. “All of a sudden our fish has been put into cans,” he said.
According to Arif, China is the biggest fish exporter. So far it is not clear where the sources of fish are found in the country with 1.3 billion people. Until 2010 China is expected to be a top fish exporter, while Indonesia, which owns vast areas of seas rich in fish producing 6.4 million tons per year, is only number five on the list.
Elik Susanto, Tjahjo E. (Timika), Mochtar Toewe (Tual), Harry Daya (Pontianak), Rumbadi Dalle (Riau Islands)
Surrounded by Sea Mafia
One fourth of Indonesia’s marine resources is plundered. The Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries disclosed that the state loses Rp30 trillion per year due to the theft of 1.6 million tons out of 6.4 tons of fish stock. We are cheated out of revenues from fishery sector, subsidized fuel sold by traffickers, and damages to the sea biota.
The Foreign Ship Modus
- No documents
Stealing fish in groups of 10-30 ships. When chased three to five ships proceed to block off the patrolling fleet, the rest escape.
- Possessing fake fishing licenses
Conspiring with traffickers/fish catching agents and seaport authorities.
- Transgressing the area of operation
The rule is that the ship should not go beyond 12 miles from the seashore, but in reality they can go as far as 200 miles and catch fish in deep waters
- Fictitious fish base
Claiming to invest in companies processing local fish, but in fact not at all. Their catch is immediately loaded into a huge foreign vessel with a size of 2,500-3,000 gross ton anchored in the middle of the ocean.
- Using forbidden equipment
Trawlers, bombs, potassium and electric current.
- Helped by local ships carrying subsidized fuel
Transaction of fuel in the sea for foreign ships with the weight ranging from 30 to 100 gross ton.
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