Taiwanese Fisheries Agency denies accusations of being illegally fishing in Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone made by the government of that country.
The agency made the statement in response to a statement by Indonesia’s Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti, who said that 12 foreign boats, including seven from Taiwan, had been seen fishing close to Indonesia’s Biak Island recently.
According to the Taiwanese fishing authorities, its monitoring system showed that none of the seven Taiwanese fishing boats accused of poaching in Indonesian waters had engaged in any illegal operations over the past three months, Taiwan News reported.
In their defense, Lin Ding-rong, director of the agency’s Deep Sea Fisheries Division, said the agency could provide the evidence gathered from the monitoring system, which tracks the operations of some 1,800 Taiwanese fishing boats.
In addition, he said the Indonesian government should produce evidence to support its accusation of illegal fishing.
The Taiwanese boats named were the Ching Chuen Fa No. 2, Sheng Jyi Huei No. 16, Jinn Fwu Tsair No. 12, Lien Sheng Yi, Jin Maan Shyang No. 12, Jiann Fure Chyun No. 1 and Jinn Yng Lih.
Apart from these seven Taiwanese fishing vessels, Indonesia said it had detected four additional ones from Japan and one from China.
The Indonesian minister said her ministry would file complaints with the Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese governments, as well as with the International Police Organization (INTERPOL), to protest the illegal fishing activities.
However, Fisheries Agency’s Director-General Chen Tian-shou said Thursday that his agency had not received any official complaint from Indonesia.
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