Amount of suspect vessels boarded by Navy plummets since 2016

The navy is now down to two operational ships, with one other said by the Department of Defence to be in ‘reserve’ if needed.

The number of Naval Service boardings of vessels suspected of illegal fishing has fallen by nearly two-thirds since 2016.

Sea patrols in the same period have decreased by almost a third and both figures are expected to get worse again this year as the number of operational patrol vessels has dropped to just two.