The trouble with foreign fishing vessels and their crew: is a vessel in the hand really worth two in the sea?

Abstract

Foreign fishing vessel (FFV) apprehensions in the northern Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) represent a significant and growing problem not just for the government authorities charged with the detection, apprehension and arrest, investigation and prosecution of offenders but for the Federal Government and Australian taxpayers. Arrests in 2005 were more than double those reported for 2004. 1 In one two-week period in late March 2006, 23 FFVs were apprehended carrying a combined total of 197 crew. 2 While the apprehensions do, on the one hand, vindicate the decision to divert increasing Commonwealth funds towards the fight against illegal fishing, 3 they also raise a question for which there is no easy answer: What is to be done with the FFVs and their crews? Immediately consequent upon the boarding and seizure of a FFV, a number of issues – logistical, legal and social – arise. The nature of these issues is such that many agencies, companies and individuals are involved in dealing with them. With several different actors involved in the processing of FFVs and their crew, there is a risk that the extent of the combined drain on national resources has been overlooked. This Comment raises some of the issues which might flow from the arrest of a FFV and focuses on the costs involved in processing the FFV and crew. The review concludes by asking whether the arrest and seizure of FFVs is the best use of Australia's resources.