PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (27 Mar 2007) -- Thirty-three Indonesians, allegedly fishing illegally for shark fins in PNG waters early this month were arrested and are now in police custody. During an NFA-led surveillance operation that started on March 6 along the PNG/Indonesian border in Western province, the National Fisheries Authority's (NFA) enforcement officers and police arrested five fishermen on five separate boats between March 9 and March 19. Australian authorities have been concerned that stocks of sharks in waters between PNG and Australia were fast depleting because of illegal fishing for shark fins for the lucrative Asian and Australian markets. Three of the boats -- Cahaya Purnama apprehended on March 19 near Jarai Village, and Kurnia and Tira Indah 02, apprehended near Dogleg area on March 18 -- together with their 18-men crew were escorted to Port Moresby last Saturday. NFA's senior enforcement officer Maring Kataka and his officers said most of the vessels were fishing for shark fin. They said the 18-men crew from Sulawesi were residents of the fishing town of Merauke, and were allegedly caught fishing illegally within the PNG waters near Daru. NFA officials said there were no legal immigration documents found in their possessions. Two other boats -- Maurana Riski and Batera Aru -- were apprehended at the start of the operation on March 9 and 10 respectively near the Kiwai Islands to the south of Fly River, and Bobo Island to the east of Daru Island. These boats and their 15-men crew believed also from Sulawesi and Kandari respectively but residents of Merauke, are currently in police custody in Daru. The men, between the ages of 22 and 32 appeared before the Daru District Court last Tuesday after police and fisheries authorities charged them for breaching Section 58 (1) (h) of the Fisheries Management Act. Yesterday NFA officers, together with National Agriculture Quarantine Inspection Authority (NAQIA) and Health Department officers visited the crew on the three boats berthed at the Defence Force' Lancron naval base in Port Moresby. | | Shark fins for sale in Hong Kong. Health Department's Aaron Kopi from the disease control branch (quarantine) said he met with the Indonesians to make sure they were healthy, fit and free from diseases such as bird flu. NAQIA's Danny Dai and another two officers from the operations division conducted inspections of the vessels. Mr. Dai said the vessels would be sprayed for pests such as rats and cockroaches after the crew were removed from the boat by NFA for prosecution. About four 50kg bags of shark fins were dumped overboard, while the vessels were on their way to Port Moresby, for health reasons. These Indonesian fishermen were caught in the area where illegal fishing was rampant. Between April and September last year, over 40 Indonesians were caught and charged for illegal fishing, and fined or jailed. SOURCE - The NationalSCUBA FORUMDISCUSS THIS TOPIC - Dive in and have your say at Scuba Forum |
