Introduction

This chapter argues that fisheries, and the activities of fishing boats, are of increasing strategic importance in Australia’s region, the Indo-Pacific. Additionally, with the growing use of fishing vessels as para-naval forces, it is clear that the activities of fishing craft, whether fishing or not, are matters of considerable strategic relevance. This, in turn, highlights the importance of constabulary operations. This chapter goes on to demonstrate that this significance has not been fully appreciated by policymakers. The contribution of constabulary operations to maritime security, in the absence of hostilities, remains unseen, under-described, poorly appreciated and lacks a contemporary conceptualisation. This chapter offers a set of new or refined concepts to help frame the on-water activities of constabulary operations. The most significant of these is the comprehensive Four Oceans maritime strategic framework: a national approach to Australia’s connected but distinct maritime domain, which will help inform policy and enable strategy development, resulting in a more integrated approach to Australia’s maritime domain, and indeed the Indo-Pacific.