Maybe we should take a tougher approach

[thargor]

Now Im not condoning illegal fishing by foreign nationals in Australian waters. I hate the fact that they are taking from our waters. However we need to look at the big picture to grasp the gravity and desperation of the situation.

These "Indonesians" are generally dirt poor. I mean most havent had an education, havent been to school. Most are in debt to their employers who can be a mix of ethnic Chinese or rich Indonesians. Most have a few other mouths to feed. They come from many different parts of Indonesia and from fishing villages. Most dont know any other way of life. Fishing is the only way they can live. You dont work where they come from you die. Its nothing like here.

Now you might ask yourself - why have the numbers of illegal fishing vessels increased in our waters in the last couple of years? This year is a new record for number of vessels caught. Well its fairly simple really..

For some time the Indonesia government has been selling fishing rights to foreign fishing fleets - Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and yes even Australia (Raptis has a few prawn trawlers over that way). There are few if any fishing regulations for these fleets and they plunder away. Guess what!!! They plunder the fishing waters of those Indonesians who used to make a living from it.

Add to this we have more business interests in fishing. Various wealthy individuals buy up a fleet of fishing boats in these fishing villages, employ the locals, get them into debt and pristo you have a willing workforce. For some this debt has quite a history.

So in order to satisfy the employers/owners they must catch big so they take their chances and come into Australian waters where the fishing is good - well great really. They figure that less than 20% will be caught while in Australian waters - its worth the risk.

A good load of fish/fins is going to pay off. They are that willing to take risks that there are many repeat offenders.

So we get tough on them, shoot them out of the water, kill a few. We must remember that there are quite a few juveniles on these boats starting at the average young age of 12 to 14.

Shooting them wont stop them. It might slow it a little but they would just get smarter at it.

We need to get to the heart of the problem. Poverty and lack of employment from where they come from. Fix those and it will greatly reduce their numbers. On top of that the Indonesian government must do their part. But I bet you they wont. They dont really care and like a real conspiracy theorist that I can be I bet some of the money made from this illegal trade is ending up in some politicians pockets.

[Vic1]

Wait till bird flu hits hard and these people not only steal our fish but set sail for Australia as a haven the escape the disease...what will the government do then.....Ive done some reading on this issue and it's scary.......