Australian authorities have intensified their crackdown on illegal foreign fishing, reporting a surge in prosecutions, vessel seizures and cross‑border engagement over the past financial year.
The Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) said it investigated several hundred suspected cases in 2024–25 and prosecuted 273 Indonesian nationals for offences under the Fisheries Management Act 1991 (Cth) between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025. That is more than three times the number prosecuted in 2023–24 and more than six times the total for 2022–23. Courts imposed fines totalling $359,000 and penalties including prison terms of up to six months.
Australia’s maritime authorities detected more than 270 incursions by Indonesian fishing vessels over the year. Responses varied according to operational circumstances, with more than 60 foreign fishing vessels seized and destroyed in accordance with Australian law, while others were ordered to leave Australian waters after their catch and equipment were confiscated.
AFMA said Indonesian crews continued to target sea cucumber and shark fin in waters off the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with some illegal foreign fishers also apprehended in the Torres Strait. Enforcement action over the past 12 months included the seizure of more than 22 tonnes of sea cucumber worth up to $2 million and over 500 shark fins worth up to $50,000, along with other species and large quantities of salt used to process and preserve illicit catch.
Fishing gear taken from illegal foreign vessels included diving equipment, air compressors and regulators, longlines, hand lines, spears and spear guns, nets and crude dredges, which can cause severe damage to sensitive marine environments. In most cases, crews used GPS devices and mobile phones to navigate to fishing grounds deep inside the Australian Fishing Zone.
AFMA’s compliance effort also targeted domestic offending within Commonwealth fisheries, leading to the prosecution of three Australian commercial fishers in December and January.
AFMA works with Maritime Border Command, a multi‑agency taskforce within the Australian Border Force, to target persistent illegal foreign fishing, with support from Indigenous Rangers and remote communities. The agency also collaborates with Indonesian counterparts, particularly the Directorate General of Surveillance of Marine and Fisheries Resources (PSDKP), to understand and counter the drivers of illegal fishing. That cooperation was reinforced through meetings in Canberra in December 2024 and the 24th Indonesia‑Australia Fisheries Surveillance Forum in Jakarta in May 2025. PSDKP is a key partner in public information campaigns in Indonesian fishing communities that highlight the dangers and penalties associated with illegal fishing.
“Unfortunately, Indonesian fishers often consider the potential financial benefit of illegal fishing expeditions, but not the potential risks,” said AFMA’s General Manager of Fisheries Operations, Justin Bathurst.
“The cost of fishing illegally in our waters is very high. Destruction of your vessel and seizure of fishing equipment and catch is a costly outcome. On top of this, the penalties for fishing illegally in Australia can include significant fines and possible jail time. It’s just not worth it.”
