Two foreign vessels have been caught illegally fishing in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
The boats, carrying 28 crew members, were intercepted by Australian Border Force officials at the weekend.
The ABC understands the fishermen are Vietnamese, and were caught fishing for sea cucumbers near the Lockhart River region, between the Torres Strait and Cooktown.
“Both vessels and their 28 crew members are being transported to Cairns for handover to Australian Government officials for prosecution,” a Border Force spokesman said.
“The individuals will be transferred to immigration detention while that process is undertaken.”
It is believed the fishermen were diving for the sea cucumbers and had collected about 30 drums weighing hundreds of kilograms when they were intercepted by Border Force officials.
Lockhart River Mayor Wayne Butcher said he was unaware of any previous activities involving illegal fishers accessing the remote waters.
“It’s a very rich environment for fisheries…for foreigners to get past the gate and tap into our resource, that’s just an extra burden on our fisheries,” he said.
“It’s a bit frightening in one sense if they can sneak through the Torres Strait and get down (here) because we’re one of the last communities on the east coast of Australia. We’re in the middle of nowhere here.”
Mayor Butcher said Cape York residents took their role as part of the coastal surveillance network very seriously, but the recent incursion had raised questions about the effectiveness of border protection in the region.
“It doesn’t seem too effective if two vessels with 28 people on board have been able to sneak so far down the Australian coastline,” he said.
“Looking at the influx of boat people and now looking at the fishing fleet coming so far down the Cape now, I think there’s probably some alarm bells ringing there.”
2016 ABC