Four questioned over operation of trawlers
Four questioned over operation of trawlers
JAKARTA (JP): Tanjung Priok port police have questioned the
four owners of 11 trawlers docked at Sunda Kelapa port in North
Jakarta for allegedly operating the banned fishing boats.
City police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said on Friday
that the four -- identified only as AK, M alias N, B alias H and
JT -- had been questioned since Tuesday but none of them was
detained.
The police have confiscated the vessels, he said.
"The operation of the boats, which are equipped with nets of
an inappropriate size, is feared to endanger the lives of small
fish," he said.
"Local fishermen through representatives of their association
had actually warned them in June not to operate their trawlers."
The association and the four people had signed an agreement in
which the latter pledged to halt operation of the trawlers.
"In practice, however, they just ignored the deal and kept
operating their boats," Aritonang said.
He said the suspects were accused of violating Presidential
Decree No. 39/1980 on instruments used for fishing in the
country's waters.
"It's clearly stated in the decree that ships can sail off on
the country's waters as long as their instruments, including the
nets, weight of anchors and the type of engines, are adjusted
with the environment."
According to Aritonang, traditional fishermen had informally
lodged a complaint to the local police over the illegal operation
of the trawlers.
"The trawlers surely can be used to obtain more fish catches
than traditional boats, but we're not just responding to the
fishermen's complaint as the case is that trawlers are
endangering the marine ecosystem," he said.
Aritonang was noncommittal when asked whether police would
summon officials from the city's fishery agency who authorized
the operation of the trawlers.
"First we have to handle the four suspects's cases, before
going deeper into the possibility of any alleged collusion
between the ship owners and government officials," he said. (emf)