An Australian court has handed down increasingly tough penalties to the crews of Indonesian fishing vessels intercepted in Australian waters. Both vessels were destroyed at sea and the crews faced the Darwin Local Court – which has dealt with more than ninety such cases since 1st July this year.
A boat seized by Australian Border Force was found to have 500kg of fish, two shark fins, four tonnes of ice, navigation devices and a quantity of fishing equipment including a three-kilometre longline on board. All of the seven crew pleaded guilty, with the skipper fined $15,000 and penaltices for the crew ranging from $2000 to $7000.
A second vessel was intercepted after being identified by an aerial patrol concealed in magnroves. A boarding party seized 120kg of sea cucumber, 280 kg of salt and a quantity of fishing equipment. The skipper was given a one-month term of imprisonment and an additional three-month term of imprisonment. Both sentences were backdated to the date of apprehension and suspended with an undertaking to be of good behaviour for a period of five years. Remaining three crew members received fines ranging from $2000 to $7000.
In a third incident, the skipper of a seized fishing vessel was taken into custody to serve a 20-day term of imprisonment following the execution of an outstanding warrant for previous similar offending. On the current matter, he was fined a total of $15,000. Four other crew members received fines ranging from $2000 to $5000.
All fines are payable within 28 days with potential terms of imprisonment in the event of default. All of the fishermen will be deported when periods of improsonment have been completed.
