Indonesian illegal fishers plead guilty in Darwin court

Two Indonesian men pleaded guilty of illegal fishing offences in the Darwin Local Court after previously pleading not guilty following their apprehension off the coast of Darwin, Australia.

The investigation, led by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) occurred after Maritime Border Command (MBC), a multi-agency task force within the Australian Border Force (ABF), apprehended the crew on March 15, 2017 after they were sighted fishing and hauling live shark on to the deck of the vessel.

The master of the vessel who was identified as a repeat offender, pleaded guilty and received a AU$15,000 (US$11,000) fine on May 19 after already spending time in jail for failing to pay a fine for a previous offence. The second crew member received a AU$3,000 fine.

This follows the successful conviction of their fellow six crew members in the Darwin Local Court on May 16.