Jakarta seeks anti-illegal fishing agreement at ASEAN meeting

Five foreign fishing boats from Vietnam and Malaysia are blown up in Batam waters, Riau Islands on Tuesday. Twenty-three boats have been sunk after being caught fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. THE JAKARTA POST

Indonesia wants the upcoming ASEAN meeting in Laos from July 23 to 26 to issue an official statement on how to eliminate illegal fishing, an official has said.

“Indonesia will prioritize an ARF statement on cooperation to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing,” Foreign Ministry ASEAN dialogue partner and inter-regional cooperation director, Derry Aman, said on Thursday.

The ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), which involves 26 country participants and the European Union, is part of a series of official meetings at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Laos.

The group was still discussing the statement, Derry said. Indonesia hopes the statement can be ratified and made into a reference for future cooperation within the ARF framework on the eradication of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, he added.

Jakarta under the Joko “Jokowi” Widodo administration has stepped up the war against illegal fishing by destroying dozens of foreign boats operating in its waters.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi will attend the 49th AMM, which is to hold 18 official meetings throughout its four-day period. Derry pointed to the AMM as the event with the most extensive series of meetings involving ASEAN and its dialogue partners: Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, India, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea and the United States.

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