|
|
Australia cracks down on illegal fishing
11 Oct 2005 05:18:04 GMT
Source: Reuters
|
By Michelle Nichols CANBERRA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Australia will deploy extra patrol boats and armed officials in remote northern waters to crack down on illegal fishing and strengthen border security amid a deadly outbreak of bird flu in neighbouring Indonesia. Canberra is to spend A$88 million ($67 million) on four new patrol boats and more than 50 additional customs and fisheries officers so more illegal fishing crews can be arrested, their vessels seized and the cases brought before Australian courts. At present patrol boats sometimes only seize the catch and the fishing gear from foreign boats in Australian waters and allow the vessels to go, Fisheries Minister Ian Macdonald said on Tuesday. He said a record 160 foreign fishing vessels had been apprehended in Australia's northern waters so far this year and the new arrangements would allow Australian authorities to detain more illegal fishermen and process them more quickly. "We are serious about border protection, serious about protection of our fish stocks, serious about the environmental concerns and serious about protecting everything that's Australian," Macdonald told reporters. In a joint announcement with Justice and Customs Minister Chris Ellison, Macdonald said illegal fishermen would be brought to the northern city of Darwin and transferred to detention centres in Western Australia and South Australia states. "This will be achieved using a dedicated contract aircraft that will be able to respond to the escorted arrival of a foreign fishing boat within six hours," they said in a statement. Late last month the Oceanic Viking -- Australia's flagship patrol boat armed with a deck-mounted machinegun -- fired warning shots after one of four foreign fishing boats it apprehended in northern waters failed to stop when ordered. Authorities seized 15 tonnes of fish from the vessels. Ellison said Australia was concerned about a deadly outbreak of bird flu in Asia and, while there had been cases of illegal fishermen coming ashore in Australia's remote north, they were rare and dealt with quickly to ensure no quarantine breaches. "In relation to reports that illegal fishermen have come ashore with monkeys and animals and birds, can I say our evidence demonstrates that this has not been the case," he told reporters. "There have been some cases where some dogs have been sighted on vessels. But in any case where an animal is on vessel, that animal is destroyed. There are strict quarantine provisions." The deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza has killed more than 60 people in four Asian countries, including Indonesia, since late 2003 and has been found in birds in Russia and Europe.
|
|
|
Reset