Ternate, N Maluku (Antara Babel) - The Indonesian authorities have released 18 Philippine fishermen arrested by the police last week for allegedly conducting illegally fishing in Tanjung Gorango waters, Wayaua village, Bacan Timur District, Halmahera District, North Maluku, noted the police.
South Halmahera Police Resort Chief for Criminal Department Affairs 2nd Inspector Wanda Dira Bernard stated here on Thursday that the Philippine fishermen were released as they were able to furnish identification documents indicating their domicile in Bitung.
Earlier, the investigators coordinated with the immigration office as the Philippine fishermen did not have passports and visas, but instead, they were able to present identification documents, which proved their domicile in Bitung issued by the Bitung village head.
"Because they have domicile documents, the immigration office can do nothing, and we have to release them," Bernard remarked.
The police in North Maluku province earlier impounded a Philippine fishing vessel in South Halmahera waters on charges of fish theft.
The 19-gross-tonnage vessel was impounded when the South Halmahera police were conducting a routine patrol, remarked the spokesman of the South Halmahera district police Inspector Wanda Bernard.
The police also arrested 20 crew members of the vessel and seized 5.5 tons of tuna and fishing tools, he reported.
The crew members comprising 18 Filipinos and one Indonesian are being detained for questioning, he added.
The Indonesian government is determined to eradicate illegal fishing from its maritime territory.
The Indonesian Navy had earlier sunk three of the 155 foreign fishing vessels that were impounded.
The three Vietnamese boats, which were proven to have illegally poached fish in Indonesian waters, were sunk by the Indonesian Navy in the waters of Anambas Island, Riau Islands.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) remarked that Indonesia suffers potential losses worth Rp30 trillion annually due to illegal fishing. However, Fisheries and Maritime Affairs Minister Susi Pudjiastuti recently stated that the losses inflicted were much larger.
