Border Force officials have taken a no-nonsense approach to illegal foreign fishing boats in Australian waters by setting them alight.
Extraordinary footage shows several boats off the coast up in flames and engulfed in plumes of thick, grey smoke off the coasts of Queensland and Western Australia‘s Kimberley region.
It comes amid an increase in the arrival of illegal Indonesian fishing boats, targeting sea cucumbers and shark fins, along with more people smuggling ventures reaching Australian shores.
This footage is being distributed within Indonesian villages identified as the starting points for many of these voyages in an effort to deter would-be illegal fishermen.
On Friday morning, Education Minister Jason Clare defended the practice of banning the boats, telling Sunrise ‘illegal fishing is a serious thing’.
Extraordinary footage shows several boats off the coast up in flames and engulfed in plumes of thick, grey smoke off the coasts of Queensland and the Kimberley
‘Anyone coming into our backyard and stealing things out of your backyard is serious.
‘The only way to stop it is to burn their boats. Send a message that if you do this, you will lose the most valuable thing you have got – your boat.’
Operation Sovereign Borders Commander Rear Admiral Brett Sonter revealed in a bicoastal operation, more than 200 boats were seized, 48 sunk and 1,000 fishermen apprehended.
Rear Admiral Sonter said there had been a spike in illegal activity on Australian waters in recent weeks, noting many of the boats are not even seaworthy.
On a single day several weeks ago, border force officials detected 65 boats.
‘Don’t do it. It’s not worth your livelihood. It’s not worth your life,’ he said.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neill said the government is collaborating with Indonesian authorities to disrupt illegal activity, and has poured an extra $50million into resourcing authorities.
Australia has a decades-long history of burning boats deemed to be operating illegally.
Back in 2021, Indonesia suspended a joint maritime patrol with the Australian Border Force after boats were set alight in similar circumstances.
Increasingly, fishermen have been setting sail seeking Australia’s sea cucumber.
This is because it is considered a delicacy overseas, and prices have been steadily rising. An AgriFutures report estimates the global sea cucumber industry is valued at over $6.6billion.
In some parts of the world, like China, sea cucumber can be sold for as much as $1,000 per kilogram.
But there are broader concerns that illegal fishing vessels aren’t the only boats entering Australian waters.
This footage is being distributed within Indonesian villages identified as the starting points for many of these voyages in an effort to deter would-be illegal fishermen
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neill said the government is collaborating with Indonesian authorities to disrupt illegal activity, and has poured an extra $50million into resourcing authorities
Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley went head-to-head with Mr Clare on Friday, saying: ‘I’m very concerned about illegal fishing and the sea cucumber plays a vital role in the ecosystem of our oceans.
‘But I’m also concerned about the illegal boats that are coming as people smuggling vessels.’
In November 2023, an asylum seeker boat reached mainland Australia for the first time in years.
The group were promptly sent to Nauru, which had not received a new intake of asylum seekers in nine years.
Rear Admiral Sonter said Operation Sovereign Borders is still in place, and warned against criminal people smugglers selling ‘false hope’ of an easy pathway to Australia.
‘People smugglers continue to exploit and misrepresent real or perceived changes to Australia’s migration settings,’ he said.
‘Anyone who attempts to migrate to Australia irregularly by boat will not settle here.’