General News
2 September, 2026
Historic wreck in fish fight
THREE fishers allegedly caught fishing at night on the wreck of a WWII Catalina flying boat near Cairns face fines of up to $3,600 each.
Reef Authority compliance officers intercepted the vessel during patrols on 10 August near the Frankland Islands, south of Cairns, allegedly finding an esky containing freshly caught fish.
The vessel was within a protected Maritime Cultural Heritage Special Management Area surrounding RAAF Catalina A24-25, which crashed in 1943, resulting in the loss of all 11 crew members.
The Special Management Area is also within a Green Zone, where fishing is banned.
At the request of families of lost aircrew, Special Management Areas, or buffer zones, were legislated in 2015 to prohibit vessels from stopping, anchoring and fishing within the 1km square zone.
It is alleged the boat had been fishing at the site for some time in the cover of darkness, and its electronic chart plotter showed a direct track towards the protected wreck.
Reef Authority compliance director Chris Cochrane said the circumstances made the alleged offending especially 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 to protect an Allied convoy bound for Milne Bay.
The wreck remained undiscovered for 70 years before a local diver found it in 2013 and the Royal Australian Air Force formally identified it in 2015.
Nearly 800 recorded ship and plane wrecks lie 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 within the Marine Park, including Catalina A24-25 near the Frankland Islands and another Catalina off Bowen.
