Indonesia, Australia unite againts illegal fishing
Indonesia, Australia unite againts illegal fishing
SYDNEY (Reuter): Australia and Indonesia tomorrow will launch
a 10-day campaign against the wave of Indonesian fishermen
illegally fishing in Australia's northern waters.
Australian Fisheries Management Authority officials will join
Australian embassy officials in Jakarta and Indonesian officials
tomorrow for a two-week tour of regional Indonesian fishing
areas.
"We'll be going to regional centers in Indonesia to talk to
the fishermen themselves and to the companies which motivate
them," Col. Mellon from the fisheries authority said yesterday.
"The whole purpose of the visit is to stop, or reduce as much
as possible, the extent of the intrusion which we've just been
faced with," Mellon said.
Since September, 72 Indonesian fishing boats have been caught
fishing in Australian waters and escorted into Darwin in the
Northern Territory. Another 30 were shepherded to Broome on the
northern coast of Western Australia.
Australian fisheries authorities yesterday released 12
Indonesian fishing vessels and their crews after financial
sureties were posted over fisheries offenses.
Australian authorities usually burn the vessels of Indonesian
fishermen found guilty of illegally fishing if they are unable to
pay heavy fines, and deport them to Indonesia.
Mellon said the charges against the 12 Indonesian fishing
boats released would be heard later this month in their absence.
The sureties, which he declined to quantify, would be withheld
or returned depending on the outcome of the hearings in the
Darwin Magistrates Court.
Indonesians have fished northern Australian waters for
centuries, but under modern maritime law Australia has exclusive
rights for 200 nautical miles offshore.
Australian authorities say the key reason for the recent
increase of Indonesian boats in Australian waters is the rise on
the Asian market in the price of trepang, or sea slug, which is
found in abundance in the Ashmore Reef area off north-western
Australia.