JAKARTA, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Indonesia has caught an illegal fishing vessel from the Philippines and its four crew members with fake documents in the Sulawesi Sea, the Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has reported.
Acting Director General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Supervision, Pung Nugroho Saksono, said Thursday that the vessel was caught on Monday, when it was transporting around 2 tons of tuna to General Santos city in the Philippines.
This illegal action has cost Indonesia up to 1.4 billion rupiah (about 90,000 U.S. dollars), calculated from 2022 when the vessel started transporting fish illegally from Indonesia to the Philippines, to March 2024, Saksono stated.
"We are serious about maintaining the sovereignty of Indonesia's fisheries resources and giving a strong message to perpetrators of illegal fishing that we will take firm action," Saksono added.
All crew and the vessel have been taken to the Tahuna Port for further investigation. ■
