Fishing authorities in Vanuatu and New Caledonia have caught at least 10 Vietnamese boats fishing illegally in the Pacific over the past two weeks, raising concerns that the incidence of poaching is on the rise.
The blue boats as they are called are ocean-going wooden fishing vessels that sail to the waters around the Western Pacific Islands in search of sea cucumbers, giant clams and lobster, as well as fish.
Papua New Guinea's fisheries minister has described the boats as a threat to national security, and the director general of the Forum Fisheries Agency, James Movick, says regional collaboration is vital if the blue boats are to be stopped.
Movick says the ‘blue boats’ are having significant impact.
“What we understand is that about 50 barrels of bech de mer was confiscated from just one or two boats recently in the New Caledonia region I believe and the value of that is extremely high. But when these fishermen go onto the reefs they are using diving gear or hookah gear and what they are doing is simply taking out all the bech de mer in each particular area that they target so there is very little opportunity for that stock to recover quickly in that area once they have gone through,” Movick says.
He adds there is a need through regional collaboration to improve surveillance and intelligence sharing so that the vessels can be monitored and apprehended.