Gone fishing by hook or by crook
Crackdown on illegal fishing continues.
Gone fishing by hook or by crook
Nirmal Ghosh
It was a signal the fight against illegal fishing in the region has been taken to a new level: A group of Vietnamese fishing trawlers in flames and sinking slowly after being blasted with gunfire by the Indonesian navy.
Last Sunday, Indonesia sank two more, both from Papua New Guinea, and the government says it plans to sink more captured vessels.
Jakarta’s crackdown, which includes setting up a fish theft eradication force, is a long delayed response to years of illegal fishing in its waters. Around 5,000 vessels – mostly from Thailand, Vietnam, China, Malaysia and the Philippines – fish illegally in Indonesian waters. The Indonesian government says this causes annual losses of more than US$20 billion (S$26 billion).
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Source: news.asiaone.com