Hundreds of illegal foreign fishers are risking jail time, hefty fines and death on dangerous seas to try to fill their boats with huge loads of protected Australian marine life. At the frontline of spotting these vessels coming in from abroad are First Nations rangers who are calling for greater powers to try to stop them from pillaging their sea country.
00:00A snapping salty caught in a trap set by rangers trying to lure in a much bigger croc seen stalking
00:16dogs and posing a risk to human safety. It's all part of a day's work for Dimmaru
00:26rangers in northeast Arnhem Land. But crocs aren't the only threat the rangers are up against.
00:34If we don't look after the borders there will be thousands and thousands of boats coming in again.
00:39There will be no more for our future generations. Ranger groups have been stretched thin by the
00:45increase in arrivals. Four foreign nationals have been discovered by Aboriginal traditional owners
00:51after arriving by boat on a remote section of the vast Northern Territory coastline.
00:56In the past 12 months hundreds of illegal fishers have breached Territory waters with 237 arrested and facing
01:05court in Darwin since July last year. A spike from 75 the year prior and from just 36 three years ago.
01:15It is a massive problem. Rangers are there to manage land and sea on behalf of traditional owners.
01:23And then on top of it now we're having to do border security.
01:28These Dimmaru rangers are on patrol for illegal vessels near the town of Nulunboy.
01:35So Grace this is where we got that report about there was this suspicious boat that was hanging around.
01:41Looks like there's been people there camping.
01:44You can see they've already hung up some ropes in that chair.
01:48It's painstaking work like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
01:53So if you're coming from either way you wouldn't really see it because they would cover it up.
02:00The fishes hiding among mangroves and up remote rivers across thousands of kilometres
02:06of vast and often impenetrable expanses.
02:10We manage 550,000 hectares of land and sea. Each ranger manages equivalent to anywhere from up to 42,000 hectares per ranger.
02:21And that 42,000 hectares is equivalent to the size of the urban setting of Singapore.
02:27Dimmaru is now calling for rangers to be equipped with more legal powers to help them in their fight against the arrivals.
02:35You know, a bit of powers to actually enact and reinforce some of the laws here within these waters and within the land.
02:44In a statement, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke did not directly answer whether the government would grant rangers any further powers.
02:52You know, it would be awesome to have rangers not just here but all over the country have that power, you know, to go out and, you know, find someone for doing the wrong thing.
