Testing the waters: fine tuning the provisions of the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth) applicable to foreign fishing boats

Abstract

Illegal fishing in the Heard and McDonald Islands' Australian Fishing Zone raises significant security and resource management issues for Australia. In the past half decade, the Commonwealth government has expended considerable effort aimed at tightening existing provisions in the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth) and in introducing new provisions focused on increasing the cost of illegal fishing. This paper examines those provisions and concludes that economic opportunities for illegal fishers have decreased, whilst the risks associated with such activities have increased.