A Vietnamese fishing vessel has been apprehended off the coast of Cairn after suspicions of illegally fishing in Australian waters.
The vessel was initially sighted on 3 February 2017 by an MBC surveillance aircraft, approximately 325 nautical miles east of Cairns, Queensland and 172 nautical miles inside the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone (AEEZ).
“Australia’s maritime domain exceeds 10 million square kilometres, but no matter where these boats are, our officers will continue to work tirelessly and in collaboration with our partners to ensure that Australia’s waters remain free from illegal fishing,” said Acting Commander MBC Stephen Alexander.
He added: “Apprehension of this vessel should serve as a warning to illegal foreign fishers that this behaviour will not be tolerated in Australia’s waters.”
Maritime Border Command (MBC), a task force within the Australian Border Force (ABF) is working in cooperation with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) and Parks Australia apprehended the vessel and its 15 crew near Lihou reef in the Coral Sea.
The crew were apprehended, with the vessel and crew being escorted to Cairns for further investigation by AFMA and Parks Australia for breaches of Australian Fisheries Management Act 1991 and the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).
This is the 10th foreign boat caught since July 2016, but overall it is believed that the number of illegal boats fishing illegally in Australian waters is significantly down from record highs a decade ago.
Dr Andrew Read, Parks Australia’s director of marine parks compliance, concluded: “Ensuring illegal fishing activities including foreign fishing are stopped is essential for the protection and conservation of this highly valued marine habitat.
Parks Australia shares the determination of our partnering agencies in responding rapidly to these potentially damaging incursions.”
