Policy responses to IUU fishing in Northern Australian waters

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Abstract

Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities continue to thrive in the northern region of Australia's Fishing Zone (AFZ). Indonesian fishermen involved in IUU fishing in this area target specific marine species such as shark, reef fish, sea cucumber and trochus that are destined for the Asian market. Many of these marine species’ stocks are now at critical levels. Local communities based in Northern Australia, state and Federal governments are also concerned with issues of border security and quarantine measures that coincide with the IUU fishing activities. Whilst Australian and Indonesian governments continue to negotiate this pressing issue, international instruments, bilateral agreements and domestic policies are not deterring Indonesian fishermen from pursuing IUU fishing activities in the AFZ.

Introduction

Australia's vast ocean domain is made up of 16 million km2 of ocean, an area which is twice the size of the continent's land mass [1]. Australia's Fishing Zone (AFZ) is 8.94 million km2 in area and includes the waters surrounding the offshore territories of the Cocos, Christmas, Norfolk, Macquarie, Heard and McDonald Islands [2]. Legal fishing activities are monitored by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF), Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) on the Commonwealth level and by individual states and territory fisheries agencies under the Offshore Constitutional Settlement (OCS). However, due to the vastness of the fishing zone and the highly prized fish stocks within this area, illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities are increasing.

According to the Ministerially Led Taskforce on IUU Fishing on the High Seas, illegal fishing

takes place where vessels operate in violation of the laws of a fishery. This can apply to fisheries that are under the jurisdiction of a coastal state or to high seas fisheries regulated by regional organisations. Unreported fishing is fishing that has been unreported or misreported to the relevant national authority or regional organisation, in contravention of applicable laws and regulations. Unregulated fishing generally refers to fishing by vessels without nationality, or vessels flying the flag of a country not party to the regional organisation governing that fishing area or species [3].

This paper focuses on the IUU fishing activities in the northern part of Australia, particularly the northern tip of Western Australia and the north west region of the Northern Territory. The tropical waters in this area are valued for many species of fish including reef fish, shark (specifically caught for shark fin), trochus and trepang (sea cucumber) and are easily accessible by regional neighbours such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. Indonesian fishermen have fished the northern region of AFZ for centuries, prior to the enactment of any official boundaries. Traditional fishing by Indonesian fishermen in northern Australian waters has been recognised by the 1974 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Australia and Indonesia which specifies an ocean area called the MoU Box where traditional fishing within the AFZ is permitted. Some Indonesian fishermen, however, are using non-traditional methods to illegally fish in the MoU Box targeting particular marine species to be sold at the wider Asian market which offers high monetary rewards for this effort.

It has been noted on occasions that the fishermen involved in illegal fishing have been reaching Australian shores raising issues about national security, quarantine and customs concerns [4]. On the local level, Australian Aboriginal and fishing communities based on the coast of northern and north western Australia dependent on fishing activities are finding their stocks diminishing due to the illegal practices and are concerned about their livelihoods.

Combating IUU fishing is proving to be a difficult administrative task for local communities, the state and Commonwealth governments and for international organisations. Whilst on the regional level, Australian and Indonesian officials have entered bilateral discussions to work on deterring illegal fishing, the efforts so far have had minimal impact. In the international arena, the issue of IUU fishing is gathering momentum and Australia has partaken in a number of actions with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to combat this activity on an international and regional level.

There has been relatively little interest from political analysts in ocean governance and IUU fishing issues. Ocean governance is often labelled as ‘environmental’, ‘legal’ or ‘scientific’ and an analysis of ocean issues such as IUU fishing from a public policy perspective is underdeveloped.1 The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of domestic, regional and international policy responses to IUU fishing in the northern AFZ. It is argued that these policies have not been effective and need to be reviewed and updated to better deter IUU fishing.

Section snippets

Illegal fishing activities in northern Australian waters

In 2005, 13,018 illegal fishing vessels were sighted in Australian waters and only 600 were apprehended by Australian officials [6]. These vessels range from wooden boats to large fishing ships. In July 2005, for instance, a small wooden fishing boat with five crew members ran aground on North West Crocodile Island, 150 km north of Darwin. Customs destroyed the fishing boat as it was a quarantine concern ‘heavily infected by borers and other unidentified marine growths [7]’. Border security and

International instruments

IUU fishing is a global issue that is increasingly gathering the attention of coastal states. It has been estimated that the worldwide value of IUU catches is between USD $4 billion and USD $9 billion a year [3], [12]. International organisations have attempted to control IUU fishing and despite the legal instruments in place, adopted measures are not always enforced by all states. Australia is involved in a number of key international organisations and is signatory to international instruments

Domestic policy framework

The Australian Commonwealth has exclusive powers, as outlined in Section 51 of the Constitution, through subsections (x) ‘fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits’ and (xxix) ‘external affairs’ that apply to Commonwealth activities over the offshore.6 Australian legal history demonstrates that the Commonwealth was very cautious7

The Australian and Indonesian fisheries relationship

The legal relationship between Australia and Indonesia over fishing activities in the Northern AFZ can be traced to 1974, where Australia entered into a MoU with Indonesia as part of negotiations regarding seabed boundaries. This MoU recognises the traditional Indonesian fishermen who have fished the waters of northern Australia long before English settlement in Australia. The MoU enables Australia to manage access in AFZ waters ‘while for Indonesia, it enables Indonesian traditional fishers to

Effective policy solutions?

On the international level, Australia is a member of key organisations that are prioritising IUU fishing. Whilst there has been an enormous effort to combat the activity, international law (in particular LOSC) needs to be updated to make a serious impact. The OECD suggests that the aim should be to make IUU fishing activities unprofitable through reducing revenues, reducing the value of catches and increasing costs of IUU vessels [11]. Full state cooperation and enforcement would be required

Conclusion

Whilst it is naïve to assume that IUU fishing in the northern AFZ can completely be eradicated, serious efforts can be made to make this activity less attractive and lucrative to those involved. This paper has demonstrated that there are many policies in place on both the international, regional and domestic levels that do attempt to deal with the severity of IUU fishing, however, they are having little effect as deterrents. This is, unfortunately, a race against time where procrastination over

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