Australia can’t keep track of illegal fishing and people smuggling risk due to size of coasts, experts warn

Australia cannot keep track of the rise in illegal fishing and increased risk of smuggling of drugs and asylum seekers because of the sheer size of its northern coastlines, experts have warned. It comes after nearly 160 foreign fishing boats were intercepted off WA’s coast between July and November, which was more than three times the amount of the previous year. A vessel even slipped through the cracks last month with a dozen suspected asylum seekers arriving undetected in the Kimberley region. The West Australian also obtained videos showing boats packed with people believed to be from Indonesia in waters off the Kimberley coast, and footage of rubbish left on Vansittart Bay — a protected island in the region. The Federal Government doesn’t appear to know if anyone is inhabiting remote islands off the country’s coast with several different agencies managing maritime surveillance and security. The Australian Fisheries Management Authority and Maritime Border Command monitor Australian waters with aerial surveillance and patrol boats to detect, intercept and deter illegal fishers, while Border Force keeps an eye on the borders. Operation Sovereign Borders is an Australian Defence Force-led operation aimed at stopping the arrival of asylum seekers. “We have the third largest exclusive economic zone of any country in the world. It’s very hard to keep track of everything at all times,” US Studies Centre Professor Peter Dean told The West. “There’s always the risk with things like these types of fishing vessels where people will potentially use them to smuggle people, smuggle drugs, or other things. But the greater risk is awareness around the surveillance of our coastlines of illegal fishing. “It very much at times depends upon the intelligence that we’re getting.” The Federal Government has been criticised by the Opposition in recent weeks for not doing enough to protect Australia’s borders. University of WA Defence and Security Institute research fellow Dr Troy Lee-Brown said while people and drug smuggling remained “considerably minor”, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing was “a problem for Australia”. “Australia has the longest Indian Ocean coastline in the region, important offshore territories and an immense and abundant Indian Ocean exclusive economic zone with a vast search-and-rescue zone,” Dr Lee-Brown said. “The lack of an overarching Australian maritime security policy that would better coordinate the broad array of agencies that have a focus on maritime security likely contributes to a lack of effective policy in the Indian Ocean. “Border Force does have an Indian Ocean capacity, although the vast size of Australia’s Indian Ocean exclusive economic zone makes the challenge of monitoring and interdicting illegal activities immense.” Dr Lee-Brown said an Australian coastguard that could protect the nation’s sovereignty and support its neighbours was worth further debate. “There is limited base capacity for support and sustainment of naval and Border Force assets between Perth and Darwin,” he said. “A greater Border Force and naval presence would be extremely helpful but overall Australian capacity remains under heavy demand in multiple geographies.”