Indonesian fishermen told pay up or be jailed

By SHEILA LASIBORI
THE 18 Indonesian fishermen apprehended in Western province last month and charged in Port Moresby for illegal fishing are to pay a total of K120,000 in fines or face jail terms.
The Waigani District Court last week ordered that the three captains of the fishing vessels Cahaya Purnama, Kurnia and Tira Indah 02 pay K20,000 each – K60,000 in total – in fines or serve a jail term of two and a half years each.
And the remaining 15 crewmen were also ordered by the same court to pay K4,000 each in fines – K60,000 in total – should they fail to pay the fines they will be jailed for 12 months.
The 18 men pleaded guilty to the charge of illegal fishing within Papua New Guinea waters under Section 58 (1) (h) of the Fisheries Management Act.
The men pleaded guilty before magistrate Regina Sangu on March 30.
This followed by a submission on penalty by the National Fisheries Authority’s (NFA) senior enforcement officer Maring Kataka. The court then handed down its decision last Tuesday.
The Indonesians are currently being detained at the Correctional Service Institute at Bomana.
The 18 Indonesians believed to be from Sulawesi but residents at the fishing town of Merauke were apprehended by NFA officers and police during a surveillance operation in PNG waters along the PNG/Indonesian border on March 18 and 19 respectively in Western province.

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