No illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing vessels or activities were detected during a recent joint patrol of the Southern Ocean by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and the French navy.

Two AFMA fisheries officers participated in the joint patrol with the French navy on board French frigate, Floreal, which operated out of the French naval base on La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. The frigate was deployed to undertake a range of civil and military operations, including patrolling both Australian and French territories in the Southern Ocean.

AFMA officers are regularly deployed on patrols in the Southern Ocean and are authorised under the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources to conduct inspections of fishing vessels outside the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) that are targeting Patagonian or Antarctic toothfish.

Australia works closely with regional partners, including France, throughout the year to patrol and monitor international fisheries in high seas areas adjacent to Australia’s EEZ.