Two fishing vessels were apprehended on Thursday in waters off north Queensland for suspected illegal fishing in Australian waters.
The vessels are believed to be Vietnamese.
Maritime Border Command (MBC) within the Australian Border Force (ABF), made the apprehensions off Lihou reef in the Coral Sea Commonwealth Marine Reserve, in cooperation with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and Parks Australia. Lihou Reef had been a sanctuary since 1982.
The vessels were first spotted by an ABF surveillance aircraft in the vicinity of Lihou Reef which is located in the Coral Sea more than 600 kilometres to the northeast of Cairns, Queensland.
HMAS Wollongong with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), ABF and AFMA officers embarked, responded and inspected the vessels. During the inspection officers found diving gear to support more than 10 divers in the water at once and approximately six tonnes of bêche-de-mer (sea cucumber) suspected to have been caught illegally.
Thirty crew members believed to be Vietnamese nationals have been detained and the vessels and crew were escorted to Cairns for further investigation.
AFMA General Manager Fisheries Operations, Peter Venslovas, said this recent attempt to steal from Australian waters showed that the risk of illegal foreign fishing remains.
“Australia’s fisheries are some of the best managed in the world and as such they are the target of illegal fishers,” Mr Venslovas said.
“However, through regular surveillance, monitoring and patrols, those seeking to do the wrong thing will be caught.”
