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'That's My Fish': Indonesia's Fisheries Enforcer Blasts Poachers

by Associated Press

   WASHINGTON --

   A high school dropout turned seafood entrepreneur is leading
   Indonesia's crackdown on illegal fishing, winning plaudits from
   conservationists and awards as far away as Washington despite her
   explosive methods.
   A favorite tactic: seizing foreign fishing vessels and blowing them
   into smithereens to send a message to her country's neighbors.
   Susi Pudjiastuti, honored this week in Washington for her ecological
   work, has led the charge in destroying hundreds of fishing vessels in
   the past two years as the Indonesian government's minister for maritime
   affairs and fisheries. Her efforts haven't eliminated a problem that
   has plagued the archipelago nation for decades, she said, but they have
   boosted fish stocks and curbed smuggling.

   Benchley award
   Catches of anchovies, king prawns and yellow fin tuna are up, helping
   local fishermen and reducing food prices, Pudjiastuti said.
   "What we actually earn also is respect," Pudjiastuti said in the
   American capital, where she joined other recipients of the annual Peter
   Benchley Ocean Awards, named for the author of "Jaws." She was cited
   for her efforts in protecting Indonesia's marine ecosystem, and
   tackling poachers and organized crime.
   "They cannot just do anything anymore," Pudjiastuti added. Whereas
   10,000 foreign vessels used to fish in Indonesian waters "like in their
   own country," she said the new reality was clear: "Not anymore."

   FILE - Debris flies into the air as foreign fishing boats are blown up,
   Feb. 22, 2016, by the Indonesian Navy off Batam Island, Indonesia.

   Neighbors irked
   For China and others in the region, sensitive politics also are at
   play. Indonesia's uncompromising approach has irked neighbors whose
   boats have been caught up in the dragnet for operating in seas plagued
   by territorial disputes. The campaign may partly reflect Indonesia's
   desire to show it is in control of its vast territory of 17,000
   islands.
   Pudjiastuti, 52, has won popularity at home as the campaign's leader,
   defying initial skepticism when she was tapped as minister in 2014. She
   had no political experience and hadn't graduated high school. But she
   spent three decades as a seafood entrepreneur and knew the business.
   She also had run her own charter airline, Susi Air, to distribute and
   export produce.
   On taking office, she quickly declared a fishing moratorium for foreign
   vessels that had often operated under Indonesian flags

   300 vessels sunk

   And to ram the point home, Indonesian authorities have sunk more than
   300 foreign fishing vessels.
   In the most recent mass-destruction in early April, Indonesian
   authorities destroyed 81 empty ships in a single weekend. Most were
   from Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. In March 2016, a
   large Nigerian-flagged vessel was caught poaching toothfish and, after
   being evacuated, blown up with great fanfare. Pudjiastuti posed on the
   beach afterward with navy officials, their fists raised in the air with
   the smoking boat behind them.
   "The visuals and press that comes from her tough practices on blowing
   these ships up has really helped educate the world," said Sally Yozell,
   director of the environmental security program at Washington's Stimson
   Center think tank, speaking of the global scourge of overfishing. She
   recognized, however, the regional frictions of the campaign, which
   included several incidents last year of Indonesia firing warning shots
   and seizing Chinese fishing vessels in waters off its Natuna islands.

   Help from US, Australia
   Pudjiastuti also acknowledged some tensions. She said she briefed
   ambassadors of neighboring countries, including China, before the
   crackdown and sought support.

   "Poaching is not a part of good bilateral relations," she said Friday
   at the Stimson Center.
   Indonesian authorities have another 100 seized fishing vessels waiting
   to be destroying and they are impounding another dozen or so each week,
   she said. Few are Chinese fishing vessels, which are bigger, faster and
   often accompanied by the nation's coast guard, making it harder to
   police their activities, she added.
   The United States and Australia are providing support to Indonesia,
   including satellite technology to help surveillance of waters.
   Indonesia hopes for Japanese technical help, too.

   South China Sea Territorial Claims

   Indonesia isn't among the half-dozen governments contesting control of
   reefs and islands in the South China Sea, an emerging Asian flashpoint.
   But it has reason to be wary of China's claims. The so-called nine-dash
   line that Beijing uses to demarcate its expansive territorial claims
   extends into Indonesia's internationally recognized exclusive economic
   zone, or EEZ, that extends 200 nautical miles off its coast.
   Pudjiastuti said she is less concerned over the subtleties over
   Indonesia's stance than her diplomat colleagues. "For me it's more
   clear. Once it's in my EEZ, that's my fish," she said.