The Australian Fisheries Management Authority''s (AFMA) National Surveillance and Response Section has celebrated ten years of delivering specialist fisheries advice to support investigations into cases of illegal fishing.
Australia’s response to maritime security threats underwent a major rethink in 2006, this was partly due to an escalation in illegal foreign fishing vessels operating in Australia’s northern waters.
The restructure saw an extension of maritime security operations to include specialist agencies with responsibilities for activities in the maritime domain.
AFMA’s response saw the recruitment of a team of officers to represent AFMA in the Australian Maritime Border Operation Centre within Maritime Border Command (MBC).
By working closely with AFMA fisheries officers in the field and investigations teams, these officers are on call to respond and advise the operational command on issues relating to illegal fishing in the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ).
Over the last ten years, it has contributed to several successes in the fight against IUU fishing. The team has worked towards achieving a significant reduction in the number of apprehensions of foreign fishing vessels fishing for sharkfin across northern Australia, putting all the known IUU vessels fishing for toothfish out of action, and providing mentoring and support to our Pacific partners;
Team members come from varied backgrounds but have all continued to ensure that AFMA continues to play its part in the broad agenda of maritime security, delivering the Australian government’s strategy on combating IUU fishing.
