The Australian Government has welcomed news that the last active Southern Ocean illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessel, the ‘Viking’, has been detained by the Indonesian Navy.
The vessel was boarded last week and then escorted to an Indonesian port where the crew are currently under investigation by Indonesian authorities.
Australia works closely with its international counterparts including Indonesia, as part of the Regional Plan of Action (RPOA), a multinational plan that encourages collaboration to detect and deter IUU fishing.
In September last year, the Viking was boarded and searched by the Australian Border Force (ABF) on the high seas north-west of Christmas Island. Information sharing by Australian Government agencies, including the Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), together with other RPOA nations, have all contributed to this outcome.
The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton said this result demonstrated the importance and value of international cooperation in targeting IUU fishing and protecting natural resources.
“Working closely with our international partners, multiple IUU vessels have been put out of business in the last 12 months,” said Peter Dutton, Minister for Immigration and Border Protection.
“This includes the two IUU vessels Kunlun and Perlon which were also boarded and searched by officers from the then Australian Customs and Border Protection Service in early 2015.”
The Viking has a history of engaging in IUU fishing in the Southern Ocean. The vessel has been on the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) Non-Contracting Party list of IUU vessels since 2004. The vessel has been sighted on several occasions by ABF marine assets in the Indian Ocean as well as by regional partners in Sri Lanka and Malaysia.
