Criminal Sanctions Against Fisheries Crimes in the Management of Marine Resources

Abstract

Indonesia, as an archipelagic state, possesses abundant marine resources that are central to national welfare, coastal livelihoods, and maritime sovereignty. However, the management of these resources continues to face serious threats from fisheries crimes, particularly illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, destructive fishing practices, and the misuse of fishing permits. This study aims to analyze the regulation and effectiveness of criminal sanctions against fisheries crimes in Indonesia and to assess their contribution to sustainable marine resource management. The research applies normative legal research using statutory and conceptual approaches. The legal materials include the Fisheries Law, the Job Creation Law, UNCLOS 1982, legal doctrines, and relevant scholarly literature. The results indicate that criminal sanctions in fisheries law have been normatively formulated in a relatively comprehensive manner, especially for destructive fishing and fishing without permits. Nevertheless, their implementation has not fully created a deterrent effect due to overlapping authority among law enforcement institutions, disparities in court decisions, limited surveillance capacity, weak execution of fines, and the difficulty of reaching corporate actors and beneficial owners. Therefore, criminal sanctions must be strengthened through harmonization between administrative and criminal enforcement, integrated maritime law enforcement, asset recovery, corporate liability, and environmental restoration-oriented sanctions. This study argues that effective fisheries criminal law should not merely punish offenders but must also protect marine sustainability, restore ecological losses, and strengthen Indonesia's maritime governance.