Mike Kelly (Eden-Monaro, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The amendments to the Fisheries Legislation Amendment Bill (No. 2) 2010 provide strengthened arrangements to combat illegal fishing both in our remote sub-Antarctic territories and closer to home. The first set of amendments will address a technical issue that currently permits foreign fishers to traverse the Australian fishing zone to fish illegally in state and Northern Territory coastal waters. The second set of amendments will implement an international agreement with France, allowing cooperative fisheries law enforcement activities in our respective Southern Ocean maritime zones. Both amendments are to the Fisheries Management Act 1991 and will strengthen Australia’s fishing and maritime security.

The first set of amendments to the bill will address a technical legal issue in fisheries management legislation which currently allows foreign fishers to traverse the Australian fishing zone to illegally fish in coastal state and Northern Territory waters. It is important that this matter is rectified quickly lest foreign fishers take advantage of this situation and change their methods of operation to avoid prosecution. The second set of amendments will address illegal fishing in Australia’s remote southern maritime territories.

Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing is a concern for the Australian government. Illegal fishing on the high seas is a highly organised, mobile and elusive activity undermining the efforts of responsible countries to sustainably manage their fish resources. International cooperation is vital to effectively enforce Australia’s national laws in our remote and expansive maritime territories. In 2007, the government of Australia and the government of the French Republic signed a cooperative enforcement agreement that provides for joint enforcement activities in the territorial seas and exclusive economic zones of Australian and French territories in the Southern Ocean. The cooperative enforcement activities will greatly improve Australian and French efforts to prevent illegal fishing activities. Enforcement activities may include the boarding, inspection, hot pursuit, apprehension, seizure and investigation of fishing vessels believed to have violated applicable fisheries laws. In practice, cooperative enforcement will occur when, for example, a French vessel under the control of an Australian officer undertakes patrols in Australia’s maritime zones around Heard Island and the McDonald Islands. If a vessel is sighted and is suspected of undertaking illegal fishing, the Australian officer will enforce Australian fisheries laws and will have the assistance of French officers. A reciprocal arrangement will be in place for an Australian vessel patrolling France’s maritime zones around Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, Saint-Paul Island and Amsterdam Island, with a French fisheries officer on board.

The amendments to the bill will also grant French officers civil and criminal immunity from the jurisdiction of Australian courts, in accordance with the provisions in the enforcement agreement for acts performed in the course of carrying out cooperative enforcement activities. Similarly, Australian officers acting consistently with the enforcement agreement are indemnified under French law. Together, these amendments to the bill will strengthen border security and help deter illegal fishing in Australia.

Question agreed to.

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