Indonesia’s top officials have called for an end to the policy of blowing up foreign fishing vessels caught illegally fishing in the country’s territorial waters.

Indonesia started to get tough on illegal foreign fishing boats in its territorial waters in 2014, and in most of the cases, it sank these vessels. (Photo: Reuters)

In a statement quoted by daily newspaper Kompas, Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said it is “enough” to sink illegal fishing boats as the policy could affect Indonesia’s relations with other countries.

The Indonesian Chamber of Commerce also complained that the approach and what it termed a lack of focus on constructive policies had damaged the fisheries industry, leading to a decline in seafood exports.

The chamber suggested the government to pay attention to production and to increase investment into the sector.

Indonesia started to get tough on illegal foreign fishing boats in its territorial waters in 2014, and in most of the cases, the local authorities sank these vessels.

It is estimated that Indonesia’s fisheries industry suffers losses of 200 billion rupiah (14.89 million USD) each year due to illegal fishing.

(Source: VNA)