00:00An overcast morning in Broome, and we're boarding a $20 million helicopter contracted by the
00:09Australian Border Force.
00:11Today, we're going to be heading from Broome North up towards Kulin Island.
00:15We'll conduct some aerial surveillance.
00:17This helicopter will stand by 24-7 for a rapid response for any type of coastal incursion,
00:23especially illegal fishing.
00:24It's the latest tactic to try to stop what authorities are describing as an unprecedented
00:34surge in foreign boats illegally entering Australian waters.
00:38Our area of operation here in the Kimberley is around 423,000 square kilometres, or almost
00:44twice the size of Victoria.
00:45It's a very challenging area to operate in.
00:49Boat interceptions are on track to be the highest on record, with more than 170 in the
00:54last six months alone.
00:56Indonesian crews have been popping up in creeks, camping on islands, and harvesting
01:00marine life that's largely on-sold to China.
01:04In recent months, the federal government's boosted resourcing to try to catch the boats,
01:08creating a cat-and-mouse game across tens of thousands of kilometres of coastline.
01:12You can see here, looking at these dense creek systems, from the air it's actually very difficult
01:18to see what is happening in the water underneath the mangroves, especially when some of the
01:23fishermen seem to be cutting down vegetation and painting their boats different colours
01:28to really try and disguise themselves.
01:31People from South East Asia have been fishing this coastline for hundreds of years, and
01:35it was only in the 1970s and 80s that the current maritime borders were finalised.
01:41Since then, the number of Indonesian boats has fluctuated, but surged in the last couple
01:45of years, driven by poverty in Indonesia and high demand for products like sea cucumber.
01:51Recent court cases have revealed the impoverished backgrounds of the young men involved.
01:56Most have limited education, and local fishing stocks are largely depleted.
02:00This is atypical scene of the Kimberley Coast, Indonesians are fishing.
02:06Peter Tucker runs a tourism business on the remote Kimberley Coast, and was last year
02:10shocked to discover this crew gathering fresh water nearby.
02:14You have to understand the amount of boats that are now on this coastline.
02:17It is being saturated, absolutely.
02:20And I know if this was happening on the east coast of Australia, it would be a national outcry.
02:28He believes the current volume of boats suggests that the trade has become more organised than opportunistic.
02:33They're not coming down to take a feed home, they're not coming down to just make a few bucks.
02:40They're coming down to supply a major commercial chain.
02:46That's exactly what federal authorities are now investigating.
02:49The Australian Fisheries Management Authority has staff running deterrence programs in Indonesian villages.
02:55So we will go into communities and deliver information about Australian law and maritime boundaries, educating them on the risks.
03:05But the agency's also revealed it's working with Australian Federal Police on the ground.
03:10We certainly are of a view that a number of the illegal fishing ventures that we see are in fact funded.
03:18Whether that's through organised crime or through other means.
03:21And we're keen to understand where that financing has come from, how we can look to address the issue at its root.
03:28Decision height, 100 feet.
03:31Back in the Kimberley, no illegal vessels have been spotted.
03:35And the crew drops in on a coastal camp north of Broome to do some community outreach.
03:40Yeah, I'm confident Aaron that our increased patrol schedules and our additional officers, patrol vehicles
03:45and the addition of this helicopter will make a difference.
03:49But we are here for the long haul.
03:53But locals say it'll be impossible to stop all the boats,
03:57while the gamble still feels worth the risk for Indonesian villages with few other options.
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