Jember fishermen worried

JEMBER, East Java: Although foreign fishermen have left Nusa Barung, a small island in the East Java province, local traditional fishermen in the Puger district, are worried the better-equipped foreigners will return.

Local fishermen said over the weekend the foreign fishing vessels equipped with modern equipment would steal their catch.

"Without foreign vessels we can usually earn Rp 100.000 (US$40) a day, but with foreign boats in the area we get less", local fisherman Suroso told Antara..

Most of the foreign vessels belong to Filipino and Taiwanese fishermen working the Nusa Barung sea, which has the region's biggest concentration of fish.

Jember's regent, Winarno, said he hoped security authorities in cooperation with the Navy in the neighboring Banyuwangi regency would stop foreign fishermen working the waters illegally.