The State Responsibility on the IUU Fishing : the Reflection of the 2015 ITLOS Advisory Opinion on IUU Fishing and Its Relevance to Indonesia

Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported (IUU) fishing activities have been widely known as a threat to marine life resources. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) has adopted its advisory opinion on the responsibility and the possible liability of flag States who commit IUU fishing activities in an area under the jurisdiction of the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission (SRFC). In addition to this opinion, many international scholars and legal instruments have raised the same concern, however the primary source of the Law of the Sea, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) remains silent on this matter. The issue is highly relevant to a current case encountered by the Indonesian Government with a Chinese-flagged fishing boat, namely Kway Fey 10078, which was suspected of conducting IUU fishing activities in the Indonesian exclusive economic zone (EEZ). In this particular case, a Chinese coast guard ship assisted the Kway Fey to escape the Indonesian jurisdiction by ramming into Kway Fey 10078. Consequently, the Indonesian Government could not enforce its jurisdiction upon Kway Fey 10078 and the Chinese Government requested Indonesia to release eight Chinese nationals who had been detained. This reaction raises questions about how to provide international legal solutions to deal effectively with IUU fishing activities.