Illegal fishing boats double in five-month surge off Australian waters with 60 destroyed

West Australian

21-06-2025

Maritime patrols have intercepted a sharp rise in illegal fishing activity off Australia's northern waters, with the number of foreign vessels more than doubling in the past five months.
The recent surge — where one boat was caught with more than half a tonne of sea cucumbers — comes after almost 270 vessels were netted between July 1 and May 30.
Nearly 60 boats have since been destroyed as part of the crackdown.
Many of the intercepted boats are small, narrow-hulled vessels typically designed only for travel near shore.
Authorities have seized large quantities of illegally harvested sea cucumber, shark fin, salt used to preserve the catch, and smaller amounts of other marine species.
The rise in boat arrivals — 169 of the 270 were in the past six months — comes after Australia had seen a dip in recent years.
In total, 229 vessels have had fishing gear and/or catch forfeited under Australian legislation.
The bulk of the activity has been off the Northern Territory coast, with 212 foreign fishers prosecuted in Darwin Local Court since July 1 last year.
During one raid near the Cobourg Peninsula in the Northern Territory on May 21, authorities seized 600 kilograms of sea cucumber and 330kg of salt from a boat of eight fishermen.
The 600kg seized sea cucumber, also known as trepang, was estimated to be worth $60,000.
Their vessel was destroyed and all on board were charged.
The skipper was sentenced to a two-month jail term, to be released after 21 days on a $2000 undertaking to be of good behaviour for a period of two years.
The remainder received a six-week sentence, but can be released after three weeks.
Soaring prices for sea cucumber and shark fins, among other produce, had been blamed for the swell of fishers travelling to Australian waters.
Australian Fisheries Management Authority's fisheries manager Justin Bathurst said the foreign nationals undertook enormous risk in travelling to Australia as they could be detained, face heavy fines and their ships can be burnt or sunk.
'Illegal foreign fishers choosing to fish illegally in Australia are taking considerable risks. They will lose their catch, fishing gear, vessel and could even go to jail,' Mr Bathurst said.
But monitoring in excess of 30,000km of coastline, much of which is situated in very remote areas, poses a challenge and stretches authorities resources.
In a multi-agency operation, AFMA works with the Australian Border Force to deter illegal fishing, along with patrols watching for people smugglers and other unlawful activity.
Beyond aerial, land and sea surveillance, Australian authorities also undertake targeted campaigns within Indonesian fishing communities, including through social media and releasing educational material.
The foreign boats — usually from Indonesia — breaching Australian water has been an ongoing issue off northern waters and doesn't stop short at just fishing vessels with people smugglers also using smaller boats.
At least 10 boats containing up to 183 people in total were intercepted by Australia's Operation Sovereign Borders between the start of the financial year to the end of April, Department of Home Affairs told AFR.
But rather than the larger boats which were intercepted at the height of Australia's illegal boat arrival crisis, data shows a new trend emerging of small vessels ferrying just a handful of people.