Jakarta, June 18 -- The Marine Affairs and Fisheries Ministry has informed that it has seized 21 rumpons or fish aggregating devices which act like artificial reefs, allegedly installed by Philippine fishing vessels operating illegally in the Indonesian waters off Papua.

"The rumpon should not be installed in our territorial waters," director general of marine and fisheries resources surveillance at the ministry, Pung Nugroho Saksono, told journalists in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The discovery of the 21 rumpons , also known as fish houses, has saved Indonesia from material losses worth Rp16.8 billion (around US$1.027 million), he revealed.

Artificial reefs pose a serious threat to Indonesia because they can potentially prevent fish from ma...