Illegal Fishing

Taiwan's coast guard says the squid fishing boat was near the Taiwan-administered Kinmen islands but in Chinese waters when it was boarded and seized. 

Traditional owners and recreational anglers in North-East Arnhem Land have raised the alarm over the laying of gillnets in restricted intertidal waters.

Footage captured by a charter fishing company showing commercial fishing gill-nets in allegedly banned waters in the Northern Territory.

Commercial barramundi fishing vessels are being accused of killing sea life in huge nets off Arnhem Land, in the remote Northern Territory, in waters where commercial fishing is banned.

Locals are alarmed that a group of Chinese men dropped on a remote beach were able to enter an Australian air base undetected, given the ramping up of surveillance along the crocodile-infested coastline.

A drone with beefed up surveillance that can fly higher, further and faster than previous models is deployed to help protect the reef from outlaw anglers.

At its closest point, Papua New Guinea is just 4 kilometres from Australia's islands in the Torres Strait, and local authorities warn this tropical archipelago has become an attractive route for drug smugglers.

The threat of crocodile attacks in the Kimberley is being used by Australian Border Force to deter illegal fishers from Indonesia, with reports that three men have been killed by the reptiles since September.

Commercial fishers say it is time for recreational anglers to start contributing financially to ensure sustainability in the sector.

Fisheries officers are expected to take further action against a man for illegally spearing three female blue gropers at Jervis Bay off the NSW South Coast after seizing both the fish and all his fishing gear.

One expert says the ocean is our largest shared resource, and transparency is important for monitoring how industry extracts from it.

The government says tight management rules are in place because marron, a native freshwater crayfish species, is susceptible to being overfished, as 13 people in the state's South West face prosecution over an alleged catch of 285.

The WA Fishing Industry Council's CEO claims foreign vessels are "indiscriminately" netting and spearing turtles, sharks and demersal fish, amid a crackdown on illegal fishing in Australian waters.

Locals were upset after they spotted a man in a wetsuit and snorkel, carrying a speargun and hauling the endangered fish across the rock platform at Cronulla.

The Australian Border Force says 30 people have been placed in immigration detention after a crackdown on illegal foreign fishing boats off the Kimberley coast.

The Australian Border Force say it is the biggest cohort of foreign fishers to be detained in a decade and comes after repeated detections off the remote northern Western Australian coast.

Eight alleged poachers have been caught in possession of more than 150 abalone and crabs in South Australia's Yorke Peninsula, police have said.

Recent heavy rain and flooding in NSW and Queensland slowed production and delivery, but co-op managers are confident plenty of local prawns and oysters will be on Christmas plates.

Boat bans, fishing gear confiscations, and area prohibitions are being considered as a way to stop the high rate of illegal fishing around Carnarvon in Western Australia.

Australian sea cucumber fishers working remote areas of Western Australia say they often see illegal fishing boats operating near the Australian mainland.

Cattle and aquaculture industry leaders say the growing number of Indonesian fishing boats operating off the Kimberley is creating the risk of lumpy skin and foot and mouth disease outbreaks in Australia.

Commercial fishers operating in Australia's northern waters say illegal fishing activity is rampant, and they "don't bother" fishing in some areas due to the amount of catch being taken illegally.

The purported graves were marked with sticks, stones and a makeshift cross at a beach within the Rowley Shoals Marine Park, 300km off the West Australian coast.

Police will travel to a remote West Australian island where shocked boat skippers found what they believe are recent burial sites, raising questions about the number of people who are dying unrecorded in Australian waters.

Conservationists are calling for better control of illegal foreign fishing on pristine reefs off the WA coast in light of declining sea cucumber numbers.