Wow , i wonder how many commercial boats in the US would cheat if our goverment did this.
ILLEGAL FISHING BOATS BURNED
By STEPHEN JOHNSON
10jul05
FIVE illegal fishing boats were torched in Darwin yesterday under Federal Government orders.
The timber Indonesian shark fishing vessels, with lengths of 12 to 16 metres, were caught off the Arnhem coast between April and June.
"Every time there's a major burning the message does get across," Federal Fisheries and Conservation Minister Ian Macdonald said at the Duck Pond in Darwin yesterday.
"They won't be plundering our waters."
More than 30 illegal vessels have been set alight since late last year but Senator Macdonald said these fires were publicised to discourage Indonesian villagers from joining the crew of illegal fishing boats.
"The public execution does send out a strong message to Indonesian fishermen -- not only will be you be fined and jailed but your boat will be destroyed," he said.
Senator Macdonald said organised criminal rackets that went beyond Indonesia were behind illegal fishing activities in northern Australian waters.
A vessel Operation Clearwater caught last April had fishing charts, a compass and GPS records that proved the crew were not "lost" Indonesian fishermen, Senator Macdonald said.
Since January, 107 vessels have been apprenhended for illegally fishing in Australian waters.
The Tiara Jaya, Adik Pusing, Subur Abadi, Odang Jaya and Sumber Abadi were burned near East Arm port yesterday.
The master and senior crew members of three of the vessels have been charged in court while the masters of two remaining boats will face court tomorrow.
Senator Macdonald flew into the NT yesterday to launch the Northern Marine Atlas fisheries guide, which he said would be useful for the NT Government.
Detention facilities to house illegal fishermen at Coonawarra were meant to have been completed but Senator Macdonald does not expect it to be finished until December.
Senator Macdonald blamed the delay on Labor voting with the Greens in the Senate last month to block the (Border Protection) Deterence of Illegal Foreign Fishing Bill, which he said would have streamlined the responsibilities of fisheries and immigration officers.
But Opposition spokesman Gavan O'Connor said Labor only blocked the bill because it wanted it amended to have public servants, and not private contractors, run the centre.
"The minister admitted in Senate Estimates the building of the detention centre was behind schedule and wouldn't be completed until the end of this year," he said.
As a signatory to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Federal Government has to offer to let the fishermen buy back their illegal fishing boats.
Their vessels are burnt if they choose not to buy them back or cannot pay a fine, with the crew flown back to Indonesia.
Some fishermen from a beach a few miles away from where I'm burned a boat that was fishing lobster using compressors (illegal). Crazy... but the government doing that?
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