The three-day operation, which began on Monday, saw government agencies from both sides running coordinated patrols and exchanging information on maritime activities.

Officials from the Maritime Security Agency (Bakamla), the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry’s marine and fisheries resources surveillance department (PDSKP) and the Australian Border Force (ABF) were involved.

This week’s operation was the fifth iteration of Operation Gannet, which implements provisions outlined in the countries’ Joint Declaration on Maritime Cooperation.

Speaking during the operation’s opening ceremony on Monday, PSDKP acting director general Antam Novambar said the two countries had to continue to work together to prevent transnational crimes, which included not only illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing but also the smuggling of people, environmental ruin and serious transnational organized crime that occurred in and around the joint operational area.

“We are in a position to continue strengthening our cooperation to resolve these problems,” Antam said.

This year alone, the maritime affairs ministry seized 92 fishing vessels operating illegally in Indonesian waters, 22 of which were flying foreign flags.

Read also: RI supports global push to combat illegal fishing

Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelagic state and the possessor of a very large exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and Australia, an island continent, are natural partners in maritime affairs, sharing a broad and complementary set of interests, said Peter Vensolavas of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA). 

The two countries engage closely with each other through a joint working group on marine and fisheries and relevant fisheries surveillance forums, Vensolavas said, in addition to being active members of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission and the Indian Ocean Tuna Commission.

“Fishing is an important resource for both of our countries and it is important that we protect it from a sustainability and economic perspective,” he said.

Bakamla deputy director for policy and strategy Rear Adm. Tatit Witjaksono said the operation was carried out in the waters south of Saumlaki, Maluku, between the Timor and Arafura seas. Patrols were conducted over 120 nautical miles (222 kilometers), with each patrol covering an area 30 nm (55.56 km) on either side of the countries’ borders.

Bakamla deployed the KN Tanjung Datu-301 patrol ship, which is equipped with 12.7 millimeter heavy machine guns and a 5.56 mm DSAR-15P carbine.

The PSDKP deployed the KP Orca-4 and KP Hiu-14 patrol ships and a surveillance aircraft.

Information exchanges were supported by officers from the Indonesian Maritime Information Center (IMIC), located in the Bakamla headquarters in Jakarta.

Meanwhile, the ABF deployed the ABFC Cape Nelson patrol vessel along with two AFMA-controlled aircraft to conduct aerial surveillance during the operation. The patrols were supported by the AFMA and the Maritime Border Command (MBC), a joint unit of the Australian Defense Force and the ABF, located in Canberra.

MBC Commander Rear Adm. Mark Hill noted that Australia and Indonesia had seen a proliferation of IUU fishing practices that were “reflective of a greater trend worldwide”.

Read also: Bakamla, USCG hold workshop amid discovery of suspected Chinese UUVs

In addition to targeting IUU fishing, the joint operation also targeted illegal fish aggregation devices (FADs) on the Indonesia-Australia maritime border.

The two neighboring countries cooperate closely in the maritime sector, although this was not always the case.

About a decade ago, Indonesia and Australia were embroiled in a diplomatic spat over the latter’s policy of turning back boats full of asylum seekers, in some cases paying them to return to Indonesian waters, which officials in Jakarta called out as “very unethical”.

When asked about his government’s policy on illegal immigrants trying to enter Australia, Hill acknowledged the “strong policy on illegal maritime arrivals” but claimed that Canberra had been taking more preventive measures.

He also said the policy now emphasized saving peoples’ lives at sea by preventing them from engaging with people smugglers in the first place.

“In the context of Operation Gannet, what we do is not only relay a message that we, Australia and Indonesia, are serious about preventing and acting upon illegal and unregulated fishing, but also send the message that we are particularly keen to clamp down on any other sort of illegal activity at sea, and that would include people smuggling and other sorts of transnational crime,” he said.

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