Australia's Maritime Border Command, working with the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), has apprehended two Papua New Guinean (PNG) banana boats in the Torres Strait for suspected illegal fishing. The first vessel was stopped earlier in March, in the shallow waters of Saibai Island, in the far north of the Torres Strait. Four PNG nationals were later interviewed by AFMA in relation to unlicensed commercial fishing for crab and tropical rock lobster. As a result, the boat, the catch and equipment on board, were seized. The second vessel was sighted by a surveillance aircraft on March 15, inside the Torres Strait protected zone. The four crew on this vessel were found to be in possession of 80 tropical rock lobster tails, far in excess of the permitted quantity of six [...]
Want to keep reading?
Sign up for a trial to have access to our articles!
Have an account? Log in here:
Enter the email address associated with your account. We'll send you instructions to reset your password.
We’ve sent a link to to change your password.
Please check your inbox to reset your password securely and easily.