Indonesia is a country with a vast archipelago of land and sea.The number of territorial waters owned by Indonesia resulted in the number of fish that are very feasible to be consumed to be caught by illegal fishers. Indonesia has been a frequent victim of illegal fishing events, and repeatedly Indonesia has also arrested and sentenced severe punishment to foreign illegal fishers. The research aims to understand and analyse further about the implications of legal enforcement on illegal fishing by foreign fishing vessels within Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone. By using the normative legal research, the author found that the result of the research shows that Indonesian Government has made a proper regulation and appropriate law enforcement to combat the illegal fishing in the Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone. In the research, it shows that there are many factors that make a lot of illegal fishing are still happening. Although Indonesian Government has made a proper law, there are still some law enforcers who did not execute their tasks accordingly. Indonesia has ratified the UNCLOS 1982 based on Law No. 17 Year 1985 and it makes the UNCLOS 1982 has become a binding law for Indonesian Government. Pursuant to Law No. 5 Year 1983 on Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), it stated on the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia’s territorial waters, and therefore it is illegal for foreign fishing vessels to fish around the Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone without any permit. The research suggests that Indonesian Government should make a completion of fishery licensing system and mechanism. And also Indonesian Government must make more patrols around the Indonesia’s Exclusive Economic Zone to make a more preventions towards the illegal fishers.
Keywords: illegal fishing, Indonesia’s exclusive economic zone, law enforcement, foreign fishing vessels