12 RI fishing boats held in Australia

12 RI fishing boats held in Australia

BROOME, Australia (AFP): Australian patrol boats have detained
a dozen Indonesian fishing vessels with a total of 116 people
aboard for allegedly operating in an offshore nature reserve, an
official said yesterday.

The motorized Indonesian boats were detained in the Ashmore
Reef area, a spokesman for the national customs service said.

He said the boats were spotted Thursday at the reef, a nature
reserve about 610 kilometers north of here, and spotter aircraft
and two patrol boats were sent.

The patrol boats were escorting 12 fishing craft with about
116 crew aboard to this northern port of Broome, he said

At the port, customs and other officials will "conduct further
enquiries into possible breaches of Australian fisheries
regulations," the spokesman added.

Ashmore Reef, covering 239 square kilometers, is reputed for
its great variety of marine habitats including seagrass meadows,
sandflats and lagoons.

More than 745 species of fish have been recorded at the reef
where non-motorized Indonesian boats are allowed to engage in
subsistence-type fishing.