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  News.com.au 19 Aug 06
'Poachers' demand Australian fishing rights
By Nigel Adlam

ANGRY Indonesian fishermen are demanding the right to work in Australian waters. They said Australia's 200km exclusion zone should be reduced to 100km from the mainland.

The shark fishermen said they did not expect to be allowed to use their long lines at the entrance to Darwin Harbour. But their plan would mean they could fish within sight of the Tiwi Islands. The fishermen also demanded the Australian-owned Ashmore and Cartier reefs be handed over to Indonesia.

Most of the fishermen working inside Australian waters come from one small village -- Papela on the island of Roti.

The Northern Territory News went to the village to ask them what they thought of Australia's increasingly tough crackdown on poachers. Many of the men had been caught inside Australian waters and been imprisoned in Darwin jail.

There are 3000 people in the remote village and all but a handful rely on the fishing trade. About 175 wooden boats known as prahus operate into Australian waters from Papela, a traditional cluster of palm-frond huts on wooden stilts.

The villagers said their families had been working in what were now Australian waters for hundreds of years and it was unfair of the Federal Government to stop them now. They said Ashmore Reef was really Pulau Pasir (Sand Island) and had always been considered Indonesian.

The men rejected the argument they were overfishing and the seas between Australia and Indonesia would be turned into a marine desert within a decade.

"We don't know anything about that," said 32-year-old Jambrin. "We fish only to feed our families. If we don't fish, we go hungry. It's as simple as that."

Mandra, 28, who spent three months in Darwin prison, said the Australian Government was being "too harsh". He said he had been treated well in Darwin jail -- the guards did not beat him and the food was "very good". "But my wife and children went hungry while I was away," he said.

Lagingu, 25, spent one month in Darwin prison. "I was treated very well -- Australia is a good country," he said. Lagingu said his experience would not stop him working in Australian waters again.

"Give me the money to equip a boat and I will go tomorrow," he said. "There are many sharks near Australia."
links
Surge in shark poachers Paige Taylor The Australian 5 Jul 06
Australia, Indonesia Plan to Fight Illegal Fishing PlanetArk 21 Dec 05
Australia Battles Illegal Fishing in North, South Michelle Nichols PlanetArk 8 Dec 05
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