Australian government imposes custodial sentence for illegal foreign fishers

Australian government imposes custodial sentence for illegal foreign fishers

On the 23 June 2006 the operative provisions of the Fisheries Legislation Amendment (Foreign Fishing Offences) Act 2006 (Cth) (the amending Act) came into force. The main purpose of the amending Act is to introduce custodial penalties for foreign fishing offences which are committed in Australia’s territorial sea. In so doing, the legislative drafters have acknowledged the legal distinction
between the regimes of the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). That is, the fact that under international law a coastal State may impose the full force of its criminal laws within the territorial sea whilst within the EEZ the coastal State’s rights in relation to the enforcement of its fisheries laws are limited by Art 73 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC). In terms of the fight against the persistent and increasing numbers of illegal foreign fishers visiting Australia’s waters, the distinction is long overdue. Whether the risk of incurring a custodial sentence will actually deter foreign fishers remains to be seen. In the interim, there are a number of observations to be made in relation to the amending Act. These observations are best appreciated when considered in the context of the legal framework under which Australian fisheries are managed,
together with a brief account of the significant increase in the numbers of illegal fishers being sighted in the northern waters of the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ).

This article was first published by Thomson Reuters in the Environmental and Planning Law Journal and should be cited as Rachel Baird, Australian government imposes custodial sentence for illegal foreign fishers, (2006) 23 EPLJ 253. For all subscription inquiries please phone, from Australia: 1300 304 195, from Overseas: +61 2 8587 7980 or online at https://www.thomsonreuters.com.au/en-au/contact.html. The official PDF version of this article can also be purchased separately from Thomson Reuters at http://sites.thomsonreuters.com.au/journals/subscribe-or-purchase.