Authorities are launching a multi-agency operation to target foreign fishing boats illegally entering Australian waters in north Queensland and the Torres Strait.
Border Force has intercepted 10 suspected illegal fishing boats in Queensland waters since the start of the year but there is evidence of foreign fishers reaching the mainland as far back as October last year.
In a statement Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the new operation would build on similar efforts to tackle illegal fishing in north-west Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
“This operation is a response to illegal foreign fishing activity in the Torres Strait and is in partnership with the local communities we’ve spoken with who see and feel the impact,” Mr Burke said.
Torres Strait community leaders and Queensland politicians have been pressuring the federal government and Border Force to increase surveillance and patrols after a steady tide of border crossings.
CCTV footage from last month allegedly shows Indonesian fisherman walking up to a beachfront bar on Roko Island in the Torres Strait. (Supplied)
On January 14 a group of alleged illegal fishers were captured on camera walking up to a resort bar on Roko Island, just north of Cape York Peninsula, and asking for drinks.
Residents on Mabuiag Island, further north, photographed a group of fishermen reaching land, while some incursions have reached mainland Cape York.
‘Desperate’ situation behind the influx
The federal government has previously attributed the increase in illegal fishing in the Torres Strait to the success of Border Force’s operations in WA and the NT.
“The criminals have tried and failed in the Kimberley and Northern Territory,” Mr Burke said.
“They are now trying in the Torres Strait, but they will also fail there.
“Australian Border Force surveillance and patrol capabilities are active across vast and remote maritime regions.Â
“Foreign fishers who operate in Australian waters illegally risk losing their haul, their equipment, their vessel, and their freedom.”
However, Erub Island man Kenny Bedford said the recent influx was “unusual” and “alarming” because boats were getting as far south as the Cape York coast.
Mabuiag Island residents were alarmed when a foreign boat arrived on the island’s shores last month. (Supplied: Mabuiag Island resident)
Mr Bedford, who has worked in fisheries management in the Torres Strait for decades, said without deterrents “they are going to keep coming”.
He said food security issues in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea’s Western Province were driving the problem.
“There is a level of complexity behind this but it really comes down to desperate people who have fished out their own resources,” he said.
“This is all they know, fishing, and they are basically in survival mode and if they’re not catching fish there, they are not feeding their families.”