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LARGE
HAUL: Two of the three fishing boats intercepted by HMAS
Bendigo in Australian waters off Arnhem Land last week.
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By
Michael Brooke
Patrol boats from Cairns and Darwin have struck serious blows
in recent weeks in the fight to protect Australia’s precious fish
stocks from foreign, commercial poachers.
On August 8, HMAS Bendigo arrested three Indonesian-flagged foreign
fishing vessels (FFVs) allegedly fishing inside Australian territorial
waters off Arnhem Land. And a week later, HMAS Geraldton apprehended
a 40-metre Thai trawler carrying 25 tonnes of reef fish in its
hold within the Australian Fishing Zone about 300 nautical miles
from Darwin.
The trawler - the largest of the 115 illegal trawlers seized this
year by RAN patrol boats - was also carrying a seriously ill fisherman
who would probably have died but for the timely Australian intervention.
On August 8, Bendigo intercepted three Indonesian fishing boats
for alleged illegal fishing within 90 minutes.
The boats were off the coast of northeast Arnhem Land. Bendigo
caught the three FFVs as they tried to flee from Australian territorial
waters after being spotted by a Coastwatch aircraft fishing northwest
of the Wessel Islands.
Bendigo apprehended the three Indonesian ice-boats after a short
pursuit to strike a blow against the fleet of commercial raiders
regularly plundering our maritime resources.
CO of Bendigo LCDR Anthony Campbell said the three boats that
had tried in vain to outrun Bendigo, were part of a much larger
fleet that had been spotted in the area.
“They couldn’t outrun us because of our significant speed advantage
but that didn’t stop them trying,” he said. “In one case we had
to insert a party to stop the vessel.”
LCDR Campbell said the three Indonesian vessels were found to
have more than five tones of reef fish each including tropical
snapper, gold-band snapper and red emperor. He said Bendigo’s
crew had conducted 29 0perational boardings in the past 15 months.
On August 15, HMAS Geraldton was on a routine patrol when its
radar painted a vessel at about 12nm.
“Most illegal vessels make a run for it but this captain immediately
surrendered after we had made contact on VHF radio,” said CO of
Geraldton LCDR Roger Fonhof. He said the vessel, which flew both
Indonesian and Thai flags, carried a drift net some six miles
wide. “It was a lucky catch,” he said.
It was a lucky also for one of the 22 Thai crew on board who required
urgent medical attention. “Much to our surprise we found a man
with a head twice normal size,” he said.
“He was 190 cm tall but weighed only 32 kg and was suffering from
malnutrition from a broken jaw he had sustained months earlier
that had never been treated.”
LCDR Fonhof said the man had been unable to open or close his
mouth because of intense swelling and had not eaten any solid
food for months.
“The man would probably have died without treatment and can think
himself lucky that he is receiving treatment in Darwin Hospital
as a result of the seizure of this vessel,” he said. On board
the vessel, Geraldton sailors found 25 tonnes of reef fish.
“Of the 15 illegal fishing vessels we have captured so far this
year, this one is by far the biggest,” LCDR Fonhof said.
“Our crew did not appreciate the size of the catch until we towed
the vessel back to Darwin where a closer inspection revealed concealed
holds and freezers capable of storing about 120 tonnes of fish.”
Federal Fisheries Minister Senator Ian MacDonald said the crew
of the Bendigo had done an outstanding job to catch the illegal
trawlers.
“They were not subsistence fishermen but large, commercial boats,”
he said. Senator MacDonald said the large ‘ice boats’ - so named
because they keep their catch on ice in order to sell it fresh
to markets in Singapore and Jakarta - were modern vessels fitted
with modern navigational and fishing equipment.
On Geraldton’s arrest of the 40-metre Thai vessel, Senator MacDonald
said: “This is the largest vessel that has been apprehended so
far this year in Australian waters.
It is a major arrest, and sends a message across the globe that
Australia is tough on fish poachers.”
