A significant rise in Indonesian illegal fishing in Australia’s northern waters highlights a significant maritime security threat, and our border enforcement agencies can’t afford to drop the ball.
Over the past six months, Australian authorities have confiscated more than 600 kilograms of trepang (sea cucumber) from Indonesian fishing vessels in our waters. Overfished and valuable, Australian trepang sells for $15–30 a kilogram in Indonesia.
The trepang trade between various Australia’s First Nations peoples and Indonesia’s orang Makassar from Sulawesi has been well established since before Australia’s colonisation. That activity is now recognised in native title jurisprudence.
But these modern-day illegal fishers use contemporary fishing equipment and pose a threat to coral reefs, marine conservation and maritime border security.
Responding to the incursions, Australian authorities burned the three least seaworthy of the offending boats last month. That’s consistent with Australia’s (and Indonesia’s) punitive procedures for illegal fishing. Over the past 20 years, Australia has destroyed around 1,500 boats engaged in illegal fishing in our waters and prosecuted more than 2,000 foreign nationals involved (mainly Indonesian).
Read more: