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.