Govt works with China to curb illegal fishing

Indonesia and China will collaborate to prevent illegal fishing by Chinese fishers in Indonesian waters by coordinating their patrols in the South China Sea.
The two countries would at first organise a joint committee to function as a legal platform for various joint defense measures, including coordinated patrols under direct “navy-to-navy talk” to cover a litany of issues even on fishing vessels, expressed Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Indonesian defense minister.
“[Chinese] fishermen often encroach into Indonesian waters, but that’s because they don’t have GPS [global positioning system] devices so they are unclear as to where the boundaries are,” Purnomo said. “Under a coordinated patrol, if those fishing vessels accidentally cross the border, we will inform them to leave.”
He clarified that Indonesia does not have bilateral problems with China, The Jakarta Post reports.
Last week, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guang Lie held a meeting with Purnomo and an informal one with other defense ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on the sidelines of the Association’s Defense Ministers’ Meeting.
Purnomo has asked Deputy Defense Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin to draft an agreement with Chinese Ambassador Zhang Qiyue so the countries can establish the joint committee.
Indonesia had already set up similar committees with the US and Malaysia, and the country is conducting coordinated patrols with Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, India and Australia.
Moreover, as part of joint anti-piracy efforts, China offered to run coordinated patrols with ASEAN member states to accompany merchant vessels from the region through the Gulf of Aden. Purnomo did not say whether Indonesia would accept the offer.
It is believed that 21,000 vessels cross the Gulf of Aden waterway to reach the Suez Canal shipping route.
In a recently released report, Malaysia-based NGO International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre said there were 173 attacks of piracy and 23 hijackings worldwide so far in 2011, involving 26 vessels and 518 hostages held by pirates from Somalia.