Armed Australian Ships Patrol for Toothfish Pirates

CANBERRA, Australia, July 8, 2004 (ENS) - Armed patrols to boost protection of Australia’s Southern Ocean waters start this week as a government vessel equipped with deck-mounted machine guns departs from Hobart on sea trials. The patrols are aimed at deterring pirate fishing vessels that seek to harvest the lucrative Patagonian toothfish from Australian waters.

The Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation Senator Ian Macdonald and the Minister for Justice and Customs Senator Chris Ellison said the polar ship Aurora Australis is being used for sea trials on a temporary basis.

The Aurora Australis and another ship the government is looking to lease will be the first Customs and Fisheries Patrol vessels to be fitted with twin deck-mounted .50 calibre machine guns. The vessels will also carry an armed Customs boarding party "to protect Australia’s interests in the Southern Ocean and deter those wishing to plunder fish stocks," the ministers said.

Australian Customs official test fires a deck-mounted machine gun that will be used to deter toothfish pirates. (Photo courtesy Australian Customs)

The toothfish, known as Chilean sea bass on North American menus, is a deep water, slow growing fish that is in demand for high-end restaurants. It is being wiped out by illegal fishing vessels.

The Patagonian toothfish fishery began in the southwest Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina and the Falkland Islands in 1994.

During 1996 and 1997, the fishery moved further eastwards via South Georgia, Bouvet Island, Prince Edward, Crozet, Marion, Kerguelen, and the Heard, McDonald and Macquarie Islands.

Back in October 2002 Macdonald established a high-level policy group to oversee the introduction of an improved surveillance and enforcement capability for the Southern Ocean.

Now, a tender process to lease a suitable vessel dedicated to an ongoing, full-time surveillance and enforcement patrol program in the Southern Ocean is underway, with the new vessel to be operational and ready for deployment before the end of the year.

Funding for the vessel’s armament, the provision of an armed Customs boarding party, Australian Fisheries officers and a civilian steaming party was announced by the Prime Minister in December 2003 and included in the 2004-05 Budget.

Australian Customs officers carry side arms on a boarding test exercise. (Photo courtesy Australian Customs)

“I would also like to acknowledge the assistance of the Australian Defence Force in providing training and help with weapons system acquisition,” Ellison said.

There will be a seamless transition between the Aurora Australis and the new vessel, which will undertake patrols from a variety of locations as needed. It will join the existing Customs National Marine Unit fleet of eight purpose-built patrol vessels operating around the Australian coast.

The armed patrols are intended to send a strong message that Australia will not tolerate any breaches of its exclusive economic zone. "It should now be clear to poachers that Australia has the will and the capability to lead the fight to stop illegal fishing in sub-Antarctic waters," the ministers said.

Australia is working with other nations who are committed to protecting Southern Ocean fisheries, including South Africa, France, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.

In the last week of June, 84 governments participating in technical fisheries consultations at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome called on all governments to increase the severity of penalties, cooperate more to suppress trade in illegally caught fish and establish better international controls on exports of fishing boats.

The group, including the European Union, entrusted the organization with creating a central date bank on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide and with developing common benchmarks for measuring fishing capacity.

According to FAO reports, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing continues to worsen, while global fishing capacity has started to level off, at least in terms of the number of fishing vessels and their combined tonnage.