Maritime Crime from a Criminological Perspective: Criminal Opportunity and Guardianship in Illegal Fishing and Piracy in Indonesia

Abstract

Illegal fishing and piracy at sea are often discussed primarily as questions of jurisdiction and law enforcement. That approach remains important, but it does not fully explain why both forms of maritime crime continue to occur in areas already governed by legal rules, patrol arrangements, and supervisory institutions. This article examines illegal fishing and piracy in Indonesian waters from a criminological perspective by treating criminal opportunity, guardianship, and social control as the main analytical categories. The study uses qualitative document analysis of scholarly literature, official reports, policy documents, and relevant regulations. Legal rules are not treated as the principal objects of doctrinal interpretation, but as part of the formal social-control structure operating in maritime space. The analysis shows that the persistence of maritime crime is associated with the vast character of the sea, offender mobility, the economic value of marine resources and trade, the density of shipping routes, and the imbalance between opportunities for offending and the capacity for surveillance. Fragmented institutional authority also affects the quality of guardianship because the presence of multiple enforcement bodies does not automatically produce integrated control. In piracy cases, regional patrol cooperation strengthens surveillance but continues to face adaptive offenders and crime settings that cross jurisdictional boundaries. The article argues that maritime crime control requires a criminological reading that goes beyond the adequacy of legal rules and gives greater attention to opportunity structures, guardianship capacity, and institutional coordination.