On January 6, 2022, the Global Asia Research Center, Waseda University, hosted a workshop entitled “Indonesia’s Maritime Policy towards Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing: Ship Sinking Policy during 2014-2019”, presented by Destin Nurafiati Ristanti, a doctoral student at the Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies, Waseda University.

The presentation began with an overview of Indonesia’s domestic features and the ship sinking policy on the maritime domain toward illegal fishing from 2014 to 2019. Ms. Destin showed audiences a video related to the ship sinking policy, which covered the sinking process as documentation from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries. Most importantly, Ms. Destin also highlighted how the media portrayed the ship sinking policy.

The research goes beyond Indonesian studies and aims to contribute to international relations, crime prevention studies, and illegal fishing activities. In this sense, Ms. Destin links her research to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)’ target 14.4 that concerns life below water, end overfishing, and IUU fishing; as well as target 16. A and target 16.4: to prevent crime and combat organized crime. Other related international legal frameworks such as the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) were also included in the assessment.

Ms. Destin continued by providing a critical review of the existing scholarly works regarding the definitions of the IUU fishing elements. Afterward, she proposed an alternative definition within the context of Indonesia during 2014-2019. During this timeline, she defined IUU fishing as “not just an illegal fishing activity, but it is a contested arena for the Indonesian government to express its political will, particularly in the maritime domain.”

At the end of the presentation, the research indicated findings regarding the implementation of the ship sinking policy are as follows: reframing Indonesia’s identity as a maritime country that drove the government to impose the ship sinking policy; emphasizing cooperation and partnership in developing maritime-related infrastructure; and strengthening the implementation of IUU fishing. After a fruitful discussion, Ms. Destin added that the dynamic of domestic affairs must be further examined.