MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Australia targets illegal fishing

Australia's largest air and sea operation targeting illegal fishing has netted 27 Indonesian boats carrying 240 crewmembers in the past week off the country's north coast, reported Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald.

coast, reported Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald. The nine-day "Operation Clearwater" uncovered organized large-scale illegal fishing by vessels from neighboring Indonesia, Macdonald said. "Those that haven't been arrested I think will be high-tailing it (heading) back to Indonesian ports as we speak" indicated Mr. Macdonald adding that "investigations are continuing, but there is some evidence that this is organized, trans-national criminal activity."

Fifteen of the boats seized in Australia's Gulf of Carpentaria were large vessels capable of storing fish on ice, "which indicates that we are talking about large-scale commercial operations rather than simply subsistence fishing".

Australia has for years tried to stop boats from Indonesian fishing villages poaching valuable trocha shells and sharks. Shark fins are prized in Chinese traditional medicine.

Poachers used to employ traditional fishing methods, but in recent years the wooden fishing boats have been fitted with more sophisticated technology, such as global positioning systems, sonar and ice storage, to increase catches.

"These illegal fishermen are becoming increasingly brazen and well organized" said Mr. Macdonald who underlined that the Australian government will not stand by and "watch our fish stocks being depleted."

Impounded boats are usually burnt, the captain and senior crew charged and fined, and the rest of the crew sent home.

The fishermen arrested in the joint navy, customs and army operation will appear in court next week. Twenty-seven crew members have been charged with illegal fishing and 109 others are under investigation.

Australia's remote northern coastline has also seen Indonesian people smugglers ferry asylum seekers illegally to Australia. But a naval crackdown by Australia in recent years and a tough policy of mandatory detention in offshore camps in the South Pacific has all but stopped boatpeople arrivals.