Three fishers allegedly caught fishing at night on the wreck of a WWII Catalina flying boat – the final resting place of 11 Australian airmen – face fines up to $3,600 each.
Reef Authority compliance officers intercepted the vessel during patrols on August 10 near the Frankland Islands, south of Cairns, allegedly finding an esky containing freshly caught fish.
The vessel was inside a protected Maritime Cultural Heritage Special Management Area surrounding RAAF Catalina A24-25, which crashed in 1943 with the loss of all 11 crew.
This Special Management Area (SMA) is itself located within a Green Zone – where fishing is prohibited.
At the request of families of lost aircrew, SMAs – or buffer zones – to prohibit vessels from stopping, anchoring and fishing within the 1km square zone were legislated in 2015.
It is alleged the boat had been fishing at the site for some time under the cover of darkness, and its electronic chart plotter showed a direct track to the protected wreck.
Reef Authority Compliance Director Chris Cochrane said the circumstances made the alleged offending particularly serious.
“This is not simply a no-fishing zone. Beneath these waters lies an Australian military aircraft, potential human remains and the final resting place of 11 airmen who died serving their country.
“It is alleged the vessel travelled directly to the wreck and had been fishing there for some time at night, with freshly caught fish on board when our officers intercepted it.
“Our compliance teams patrol the Marine Park day and night. The cover of darkness is no protection from detection.
“These special management areas exist for a reason. They protect nationally significant pieces of Australia’s wartime history, an underwater gravesite that is important to the families and community, and places that deserve to be treated with respect.”
Catalina A24-25 disappeared on 28 February 1943 while returning to Cairns from an anti-submarine mission protecting an Allied convoy bound for Milne Bay.
The wreck remained undiscovered for 70 years before it was found by a local diver in 2013 and formally identified by the Royal Australian Air Force in 2015.
Nearly 800 recorded ship and plane wrecks are resting at the bottom of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, with very few discovered.
Two nationally significant Royal Australian Air Force WWII aircraft wrecks are protected in the Marine Park.
The two Special Management Areas – each one-kilometre square – are in place around a Catalina off Bowen and the Catalina that crashed near the Frankland Islands south of Cairns.
Boats can travel through the special management areas but cannot stop, unless in an emergency, and cannot conduct any fishing activity or anchor.
Through the Reef Joint Field Management Program , the Reef Authority and Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service work together to protect the Great Barrier Reef’s protected areas. The program tackles immediate threats like illegal fishing while strengthening the Reef’s resilience to long-term pressures such as climate change. Compliance is central to this work, delivered through a comprehensive enforcement program.
