A guilty verdict of an illegal foreign fisher was upheld by the Northern Territory Supreme Court last week. On 17 September 2015, an appeal by Indonesian national Mr Sarkawia Aregar of two convictions under the Fisheries Management Act 1991 for illegally fishing in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) in April 2014 was dismissed.
Earlier this year, on 30 March, Mr Aregar was found guilty of being in charge of a foreign boat equipped for fishing and using that boat for fishing inside the AFZ on 18 April 2014. The boat was forfeited to the Commonwealth, confiscated and destroyed. Mr Aregar was fined $5000 prior to being repatriated to Indonesia. He appealed the decision on the grounds that he was not in the AFZ.
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority’s General Manager of Fisheries Operations welcomed the decision by Supreme Court in upholding the conviction.
“Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing threatens the environment and robs Australians of our marine resources which we have rules and regulations in place to protect,” Mr Venslovas said.
“This conviction sends a strong message to those seeking to steal from Australia’s ocean that you will be caught.”
AFMA partners with the Maritime Border Command and the Royal Australian Navy to deter illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the AFZ. Continued patrols in Australia’s northern waters have led to successful prosecutions and are essential in combatting illegal fishing and maintaining the sustainability of Australia’s fisheries resources. The results speak for themselves with historic lows in apprehensions for IUU fishing.
“For the 2014-15 financial year only six foreign vessels were apprehended – well down on the hundreds of vessels apprehended during the mid-2000s,” Mr Venslovas said.
“This is a credit to the success of our program to combat IUU fishing.”
“In addition to enforcement measures, we continue to build international networks and work collectively with our regional partners to deter illegal fishing.”
For more information on how AFMA is combatting illegal fishing visit afma.gov.au