‘sydney Swan' Patrol Boat

[Ken A]

‘Sydney Swan' patrol boat to tackle illegal fishing on NSW South Coast

The launch of the 'FPV Sydney Swan', the latest weapon in the fight against illegal fishing.

The launch of the 'FPV Sydney Swan', the latest

weapon in the fight against illegal fishing.

A new $800,000 high-speed patrol boat which will target the operations of illegal fishers on the South Coast was launched by the State Government today.

The ‘FPV Sydney Swan’ will carry out covert and overt surveillance operations against black market fishers.

Illegal fishing costs our commercial fishing sector hundreds of thousands of dollars every year, with organised gangs targeting abalone stocks and other species.

The ‘Swan’ will dramatically improve our enforcement capacity, with a particular emphasis on targeting illegal fishing in isolated sections of the South Coast.

The vessel, which was named in honour of Sydney’s AFL premiership-winning team, was launched at the Department of Primary Industries Fisheries office at Wollstonecraft today.

Sydney Swan players Adam Goodes, Jared Crouch and David Spriggs attended the launch.

The 43-foot boat comes equipped with two fast, rigid-hull inflatable vessels, which will be used to carry out rapid, random inspections of inshore abalone and lobster diving locations.

The ‘Sydney Swan’ will have its home port at Batemans Bay, and will be crewed by Fisheries officers from DPI.

It replaces a former patrol vessel, the ‘FPV Port Jackson’. The ‘Swan’ is bigger, faster, and equipped with the most up-to-date safety and surveillance equipment.

While the ‘Swan’ will mainly be used to target illegal fishing, it will also conduct compliance operations to ensure recreational and commercial fishers comply with bag and catch limits.

Last year the State Government released the Report on Illegal Fishing for Commercial Gain or Profit in NSW, compiled by former AFP commissioner Mick Palmer.

It found that illegal harvesting and black market fishing is widespread in NSW and poses significant economic and environmental threats to our fisheries.

One of the recommendations of the report was to improve the operational capacity of our compliance team, which is what the deployment of the ‘Sydney Swan’ will achieve.

The vessel is an important new weapon in the State Government’s on-going effort to protect our marine resources from the effects of illegal fishing.

The commercial fishing sector is worth nearly $90 million each year to the NSW economy, and directly employs more than 4000 people across the state.