Jakarta, May 9 -- President Prabowo Subianto reiterated his commitment to ensuring that national fishery resources are fully utilized by Indonesian fishermen rather than foreign vessels.

"We do not want foreign vessels to fish in our seas; we want our people to fish," the president said while visiting a fishing village in South Leato, Gorontalo, on Saturday.

Aiming to strengthen the national maritime economy, the government will begin building 1,582 fishing vessels this year to assist local fishermen.

These vessels will later be distributed to fishing groups through a cooperative system according to the explanation provided by the president.

Such a program is needed to prevent the marine resources of Indonesia from being exploited by ...