[Kabar-indonesia] Aust to seek joint illegal fishing patrols with Indonesia

[Joyo at aol.com]

ABC
Thursday, November 16, 2006

Aust to seek joint illegal fishing patrols with Indonesia

Federal Fisheries Minister Eric Abetz says he will ask his
Indonesian counterpart to help establish patrols to keep
Indonesian fishermen out of Australian waters.

The two ministers meet in Brisbane this afternoon to discuss
ways of cracking down on illegal fishing in Australia's
northern waters.

Senator Abetz says the new Australia-Indonesia security pact
paves the way for joint naval patrols of fishing zones.

He says illegal fishing is a serious issue for both nations
and it is time for a new level of cooperation to tackle the
problem.

"The fact that we now have official recognition in the
Lombok treaty is an important step," he said.

"At the end of the day I believe we, as Australians, need to
be self-sufficient in patrolling our waters but any help
that Indonesia can give us will be gladly accepted," he
said.

The Northern Territory Government says a new prison would
need to be built if the number of illegal fishermen caught
off Australia's coast increases.

Acting Fisheries Minister Kon Vatskalis is representing the
Territory at the second annual meeting of state fisheries
ministers in Brisbane today.

He says the Territory's jails are at capacity and the
Federal Government would have to pay for the construction
and running of any new facility.

"And that's the key, we don't have the facility because our
prisons are already in high capacity," he said.

"If the Commonwealth wants us to imprison the illegal
fishermen, the prediction it would be anything between 600
to 6,000 fishermen, that will stress our facilities and
require the building of a new prison and certainly we can't
afford to do that."

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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