1000 illegal fishing vessels in the last 6 months

[rando]

I heard a report on ABC on my way to work that since july over 1000 illegal vessels have been impounded in the north. Federal minister Mc Donald has secured an aggreement with his counterpart in Indonesia for a joint investigation into where the catch is going & who is funding these operations. Hoping to establish whether international organised crime syndicates are involved
r

[gif]

Aust, Indonesia to probe illegal fishing
Australian and Indonesia have agreed to launch a joint investigation into whether organised crime and big international syndicates are behind illegal fishing in Australia's northern waters.

Australia has seized 250 vessels so far this year.

More than 1,000 fishermen, mostly from Indonesia, have been detained.

Australia's Fisheries Minister, Senator Ian Macdonald, has been meeting with his Indonesian counterpart, Rear Admiral Freddy Numberi.

Senator Macdonald says both countries will work together to find out who is behind the illegal incursions.

"We are conducting with Indonesia a joint investigation into all aspects of illegal fishing," he said.

"I do think it is realistic to think that we could end illegal fishing. I have to say that it did seem a long-term strategy but the very cooperative approach of the Indonesian minister suggests to me that this is now a real possibility."

Senator Macdonald had been hoping to find a way to jail the illegal fishermen, who must now be repatriated under a United Nations convention.

However, Admiral Numberi avoided a direct answer, saying only that Indonesia needs to be informed more promptly when its fishermen are arrested.

[rando]

Thats the one! thanks Gary, I seem to have a few of the details wrong.
cheers
Rando

[nonibbles]

No real deterent for them. Different scenarios are:
1) Catch good amount of fish make it back home and earn your $$$
2) Get caught and get sent home hop on another boat do same again
3) Get caught and detained receive prison allowance (which is much higher than earnings expected back at home)
Customs/coastwatch seem only to play tag and release with crew its the business operators and skippers who they are mainly after. Just a cat mouse game really often the boats are seen just outside our waters and can't be touched unless they can prove that they were fishing within our waters. So guess what happens when they know that there's nobody around?

[szopen]

I have a question?

So when they detain a boat, they hold, tag and release the crew, what do they do with the boat and gear?

Unless my understanding of economics is totally flawed if they would confiscate and dispose of the boats that would make these activities rather unprofitable and if there was no money to be made it would stop.

[dasher]

I have a question?

So when they detain a boat, they hold, tag and release the crew, what do they do with the boat and gear?

Unless my understanding of economics is totally flawed if they would confiscate and dispose of the boats that would make these activities rather unprofitable and if there was no money to be made it would stop.


The boats that are detained are ultimately torched.
Unfortunately because of the profit from the boats that return undetected, the loss of a boat ocassionally doesn't bother them.

[gif]

I think the Minister is on to something here. I like the idea of stopping the problem at the source and that’s in addition to trying to catch them here.

Clearly it’s a bit like drug running - the profits so high that occasionally getting caught is not a problem.

That can only mean that a lot more are getting away with it than are being caught.

The Indonesian system is probably so corrupt that I don’t think that McDonalds initiative has much chance of success. I see that the Indonesian Minister avoided answering the question.

[Panda]

Saw an interesting documentary on ?Sixty Minutes a couple of years ago re this problem.

Apparently black-market money lenders (?AKA Mafia?) lend the peasant fishermen the cash to buy a boat so they can earn a living. The interest rates are so high that they have to fish illegally and take great risks to meet repayments. If they get caught in Australian waters they loose their boat and get sent back home. But they still owe the debt to the money lenders. If they dont repay the debt they can loose their house or perhaps bad things might happen to them or their family. So their only option is to take out another loan for another boat and get back into it ASAP before the high interest rates compound too much.

I am not sure how accurate the show was but it was very convincing with interviews of fishermen in Indonesia.

If it is true then I think the government is doing the best thing by trying to stop the problem at its source. Burning boats and sending the fishermen back home is obviously not working.

[fish2eat]

Its not only the fish they catch, reports indicate:-

1. They cut the fins off sharks and leave them to basically drown

2. They are responsible for thousands of "ghost nets" that entangle and kill turtles, dolphins etc. There was a program on Ch10 last Sat showing rangers on the western Cape collecting huge quantities of these ghost nets

Solution - torpedoes

[gif]

New plans to combat illegal fishing
By Robin Pash
20dec05
INDONESIA has backed new measures to stop its fishermen plundering Australia's northern waters in a deal hailed as a breakthrough in the fight against poaching.

A record number of Indonesian fishing boats were caught in Australia's northern fishing zone this year, with crews using more sophisticated equipment and increasingly violent tactics to avoid arrest.
Talks between the governments in Jakarta this week resulted in a new agreement which includes joint patrols and an investigation to determine the involvement of organised crime.
"The meeting signifies a whole new era of co-operation between Australia and Indonesia in the fight against illegal fishing," Australian Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald said.
"The Indonesian Government are now very focused on the problem. They understand it's a substantial irritation to Australia."
A joint Indonesian and Australian investigation will determine the reach of crime syndicates in fishing operations – something Australia has long suspected is a driving force behind poaching.
"I've always been of the view that there was some organised commercial activity behind this, it's not emanating from village fishermen level, it's better organised than that," Senator Macdonald said.
"The Indonesians have the same view – they're certain that there is organised activity beyond the villages."
Joint patrols of the maritime border between the countries are on the cards, with Indonesia agreeing to move towards co-ordinated policing.
"I'd be hopeful that in the first half of next year we'd have that arrangement organised," Senator Macdonald said.
Other measures include a $300,000 Australian-funded operation to raise awareness of the impacts of illegal fishing in Australian waters through campaigns in villages home to the poaching fleets.
Indonesia and Australia also will undertake a joint study on illegal fishing in South-East Asia, including the demand for shark fin.
About 250 Indonesian boats have been caught inside Australia's northern fishing zone this year, an increase of more than 100 on last year.
Australia has been pushing for tougher penalties for illegal fishing, including jail terms, but has so far failed to get Indonesia to agree to a framework.
An international agreement prevents participating countries from jailing fish poachers, restricting the penalties to fines.
But Senator Macdonald said there was some progress in that area.
"The Indonesians told us that they do jail their own illegal fishermen and they seemed to express no surprise that others might do the same thing," he said.
"I wouldn't say there was agreement, but I would say there's agreement to look more closely at serious penalties."
The federal Government has poured more resources into fighting illegal fishing in the north this year, including extra personnel and new patrol boats.
Australian navy and customs officials have been confronted with more violent tactics to repel boarding parties including burning poles and flaming missiles.
Indonesian boats also have been found to be better equipped with gear including satellite positioning systems and ice-packed holds to store their catch.

[Louis]

I saw a documentry on the tele recently in which our Navy chased after an unlawful indonesion fishing vessel for hundreds of kilometres until they had returned to the safety of there own waters.

They were able to escape simply by sharpening bamboo poles and waiving them about in a threatening manner. Our Navy was not authorised to use the level of force necessary to stop them eg: Not allowed to fire holes into the hull of their vessel under the waterline.

It appears that the only unlawful fishing vessels being apprehended are those that are not aware that we are such a soft touch and are bluffed into stoping.

I think the first thing we need to address is the ability of our Navy to use the force necessary to effect their detention.

Louis

[The_Walrus]

Navy need target practice.

Don't need to waste money on decoys just patrol the fishing zone.

We're just too soft and afraid of what others may say.

Luc

[dynamicspot]

they dont muck around my mate is a customs boy he has told me some storys that would terrifi you

[sf17fisherman]

I saw a documentry on the tele recently in which our Navy chased after an unlawful indonesion fishing vessel for hundreds of kilometres until they had returned to the safety of there own waters.

They were able to escape simply by sharpening bamboo poles and waiving them about in a threatening manner. Our Navy was not authorised to use the level of force necessary to stop them eg: Not allowed to fire holes into the hull of their vessel under the waterline.
It appears that the only unlawful fishing vessels being apprehended are those that are not aware that we are such a soft touch and are bluffed into stoping.

I think the first thing we need to address is the ability of our Navy to use the force necessary to effect their detention.

Louis





i belive that we looked very soft to many people in that report as with the cameras rolling the boys were a tad trigger shy
but in normaly day to day yes our boys do fire at the boats and in most cases when able to they do ram the boats (sideswipe)

most of the boats that are caught end up getting burnt at sea from one thing really and that is the hard chase our boys give them

worst thing but is that for every crew we take in there is another five lined up ready to fish the waters

i say it sounds like a good long term plan to stem the flow of this but we are really at the mercy of the indos in chaseing up the people in charge of this so we will still see a almost endless flow of boats for a while yet

maybe the goverment would be better off looking for waisted dollers in the goverment and trying to boost the force of patrol boats and crew in the north
hell i'm more than willing to put my hand up for the job