Graham Kerridge says he was at the helm of a helicopter over Australian waters when he spotted a group of illegal fishing boats motoring towards Indonesia this morning.
The Torres Strait-based helicopter pilot photographed the three fishing boats, believed to be from Indonesia, during a routine charter flight.
“They are pretty distinct,” he said.
Mr Kerridge said he immediately reported them to Border Force and said they were “travelling quite quickly” about 10 kilometres south of Papua New Guinea, heading toward Indonesia.Â
“The New Guinea boats and the Indonesian boats are completely separate and obviously [look] nothing like [the boats] that run around the Torres Strait locally,” he said.
It comes less than a week after Border Force said it had launched a multi-agency operation to target foreign fishing boats illegally entering Australian waters in north Queensland and the Torres Strait.
The latest sighting means five suspected illegal fishing boats have been pictured in Far North Queensland waters since Saturday.
This suspected foreign fishing boat was pictured off Hawkesbury Island on Saturday, February 14. (Supplied)
Marine park sighting
Pearl farmer Rusty Tully, who lives on Turtle Head Island, 18km south of the Cape York tip, said a local man arrived at his place wanting to use his phone on Sunday to notify Border Force of a boat.
He said the man had spotted a vessel near Trochus Island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
“You’ve done more than penetrate Australian waters when you get this far,” Mr Tully said.
“Just for the boats to be in the Torres Strait, it’s downright disgusting, not for the employees of Border Force, but the top down.
“Those guys have not come this far into Australian waters with good intent.”
Mr Tully, who lives alone on his pearl farm with his wife, said the frequent border incursions left them vulnerable.
A Border Force boat off the coast of Mabuiag Island in the Torres Strait. (Supplied)
Call for briefings
Torenzo Elisala, councillor for the Dauan Island division of Torres Strait Island Regional Council, said residents felt “violated” by the boat sightings but he was most concerned about fish stocks.
“It definitely is an invasion,” he said.
“We are threatened; we are feeling violated and the answers are just not there.”
Torres Shire Mayor Elsie Seriat said her community was also “very worried”.
“We just don’t know what they’re carrying — whether they’re here to fish, whether they’re here to plant something,” she said.
On Saturday, Ms Seriat received a photo from a family member of a boat near Hawkesbury Island, about an hour from Thursday Island.
“They were scared when they saw that illegal fishing boat so close,” she said.
“They even told me the guys on board [the foreign boat] looked surprised.”
Ms Seriat said the region’s leaders wanted a briefing from Border Force’s command on Thursday Island to understand how many boats were being caught and how incursions were being dealt with.
Two foreign boats intercepted
Border Force has confirmed it intercepted two foreign fishing boats in the Torres Strait on the weekend — one near Hawkesbury Island and the other near Thursday Island.
Officers boarded both boats and found that “illegal foreign fishing activities had not yet occurred”, a Border Force spokesperson said.
Each boat was escorted out of Australian waters and fishing equipment was seized, along with hundreds of kilograms of salt.
It takes the number of foreign boats caught in Far North Queensland waters illegally since the new year to 13.
Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt said there was “a range of environmental and health reasons to take strong action against illegal fishing”.
He said a new operation launched by Border Force last week would “continue to drive those boats away”.
Border Force said one of its weekend interceptions was the result of a report from a member of the public.
“The ABF appreciates the community’s close engagement with its officers on Thursday Island,” a spokesperson said.