The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) in partnership with the Australian Border Force (ABF) has apprehended a foreign fishing vessel suspected of fishing offences in the Territorial Sea within the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ).
On 26 March 2016, the Australian Defence Vessel Cape Nelson, operating under the command of the ABF Maritime Border Command, intercepted the foreign fishing vessel KM MASRAWATI about 10 nautical miles north-west from Colbert Island off north Western Australia, after the vessel was detected by an ABF Dash-8 surveillance aircraft.
During a search of the vessel, AFMA and Australian Defence Force personnel recovered fishing equipment in the form of long lines, about 200 steel traces with hooks for targeting shark species, a gill net of about 50 metres in length and reef shoes used for walking across reefs at low tide collecting sea cucumber.
The vessel has been brought to Darwin, along with eight crew members, for further investigation by AFMA.
AFMA General Manager of Operations Peter Venslovas said AFMA would continue to work with other Australian Government agencies and our regional partners to ensure that Australia’s marine resources weren’t plundered.
“Those fishing illegally in Australian waters are breaking the very rules and regulations that we have in place to ensure sustainable Commonwealth fisheries now and into the future,” Mr Venslovas said.
“AFMA will continue to work with the Australian Border Force to patrol our waters and those found doing the wrong thing will be caught.
“In addition to monitoring and surveillance, we also work in-country with our regional partners to stop illegal fishing before it reaches Australian waters.”
Commander Maritime Border Command Rear Admiral Peter Laver said the continued partnership between Australian federal, state and territory government agencies, as well as international counterparts, was leading to success in Australia’s northern and southern waters.
“Over the past decade we’ve seen apprehensions decrease substantially from 367 in the financial year 2005-06 to 13 apprehensions in our Northern waters since July 2015,” Rear Admiral Laver said.
“This is a testament not only to our strong on-water and in-the-air presence but also the capacity-building and information-sharing between international and Australian agencies.”
More information on how Australia is working to combat illegal fishing can be found at afma.gov.au.