Australian Fishers Shielded from Pirates, Granted New Rights

CANBERRA, Australia, November 26, 2003 (ENS) - The Australian government, determined to deter toothfish pirates from operating in Australian waters, will introduce two pieces of legislation this week giving authorities additional powers to crack down on illegal fishing operators.

One amendment to the country's existing fisheries legislation will allow the government to recover, and include in any bond amount, the cost of pursuit and apprehension of foreign illegal fishing vessels.

Fines for foreign operators caught fishing illegally in vessels larger than 25 metres will be raised from A$550,000 to $825,000.

A separate amendment covering fishing on the high seas, will allow the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to direct that fishing may not occur in part, or all of, a fishery.

The AFMA will be authorized to establish and maintain a public register of fishing permits, and require that the original fishing concession is physically returned to AFMA when it is surrendered.

Under this amendment, AFMA officers will be allowed not to produce ID cards where it is not practicall to do so, for example, when a patrol boat gives a radio direction to the master of the fishing vessel.

The Urugayan flagged fishing vessel Viarsa 1 encounters an iceberg in the Southern Ocean. (Photo courtesy Australian Customs)

The new measures are part of a broader program in the Southern Ocean to protect Australia's sovereignty, environment and Patagonian toothfish stocks. Two days ago Australia signed a treaty with France to bolster the fight against illegal fishing as part of that same program.

Australian fisheries officials today apprehended an Indonesian fishing vessel with a dead dolphin on board fishing south west of Cape Wessels, over 100 nautical miles inside Australia's Fishing Zone.

Federal Fisheries Minister Senator Ian Macdonald the discovery is "proof of the disregard held for Australia's marine ecosystems by illegal operators."

"Dolphins are used as bait to catch sharks, which then have their fins removed to be sold on to the lucrative Asian markets," said Macdonald. "This is a purely commercial operation, and one without any consideration for the environment."

Australian authorities have now apprehended 132 illegal fishing vessels this year. The current vessel is being towed to Darwin, where investigations involving the six crewmembers will begin tomorrow morning.

At the same time, Australian commercial fishing operators are being granted broad new fishing rights to catch blue grenadier, orange roughy, gummy shark, ling, flathead and redfish, species which provide much of the fresh fish for Australia’s restaurants and fast food outlets.

AFMA Chair Dr. Wendy Craik says the new Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark (SESS) Fishery Management Plan that covers these species grants more stable and secure boat and quota fishing rights in place of the annually renewable permits that currently apply.

Trawling on the Great Barrier Reef must be ecologically sustainable, says the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority. (Photo courtesy GBRMPA)

The new plan covers the waters along the country's east coast from Queensland down to Tasmania and across the southern coast to the Western Australian shoreline.

It brings together the south east trawl; gillnet, hook and trap, and Great Australian Bight trawl fisheries under a single, overarching management framework.

“In bringing these fisheries together, it makes the setting of quotas, monitoring and scientific assessments much easier, which will result in improved management of both fish stocks and the impact of fishing on the marine ecosystem,” Craik said.

The new management plan is now finalized, and the AFMA will now begin the process of granting the new fishing rights to apply from the beginning of the fishing season in January 2005.

The total gross value of Australian fisheries production is now A$2.41 billion according to the ABARE Report Australian Fisheries Statistics 2002. The Australian Seafood Industry Council estimates that the industry injects A$10 billion worth of income activity into the Australian economy each year.