Pandemic-fuelled wave of illegal fishing boats prompts call to divert Border Force resources

Pandemic-fuelled wave of illegal fishing boats prompts call to divert Border Force resources

By Erin Parke and Matt Brann

Source: ABC Kimberley

10/27/2021

$Erin Parke and Matt Brann$
Credit: Harley Cuzens

A defence expert says resources need to be bolstered to block an influx of illegal foreign fishing crews stripping marine life in Australian waters during the pandemic.
It comes as northern fishermen report increasingly brazen behaviour by their Indonesian counterparts, who are asking locals for directions and even engine parts to do repairs.

National data obtained by the ABC reveals the scale of the increase in illegal fishing boats being intercepted since the pandemic began.

In 2018-19 just five boats were intercepted and four the following year, but that figure jumped up to 85 boats in 2020-21.

In the past three months alone more than 100 boats have been intercepted.

There is concern the fishermen are doing long-term damage by walking on delicate coral and stripping the reefs of marine life like trepang, shark and fish.