NT judge fines group of 18 illegal Indonesian fishers more than $80,000 in Darwin court
A Northern Territory judge has raised the stakes for illegal fishers in Australian waters, handing down $82,000 worth of fines to a group of 18 Indonesian nationals.
Judge Alan Woodcock said he needed to "send a message" in Darwin Local Court on Tuesday, as he issued the fishermen fines ranging from $4,000 to $10,000 each.
The penalties were a drastic increase from those handed down to 20 illegal fishermen convicted of similar charges last month, most of whom received fines between $1,000 and $2,000 each.
The 18 men who faced court on Tuesday were discovered on two different vessels fishing for sea cucumbers, around 112 nautical miles inside the Australian Fishing Zone earlier this year.
During sentencing, the group's lawyer told the court of the financial pressures the fishers faced in their home country.
"These are mostly married men who support their families," he said.
"[The] majority of them are from low socio-economic areas, they earn small amounts of money, and risk their lives their lives in unseaworthy vessels."
The court also heard that all but one of the men were first-time offenders.
Judge Woodcock expressed sympathy for the defendants but said he could not look past the seriousness of their crimes and the increasing prevalence of illegal fishing.
"A message needs to be sent that it shouldn't happen, it's not right and people who do it will be punished," he told the court.
The captain of one of the vessels, whose one prior conviction of illegal fishing dated back to 2007, received the largest fine of $10,000, while the other captain was fined $8,000.
The remaining fishermen were fined $4,000 each.
According to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority, more than 200 Indonesian fishers have been prosecuted in Darwin Local Court since July 2024.
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