Four Oceans: An integrated approach to Australia's maritime domain

This thesis argues that fisheries, and the activities of fishing boats, are of increasing strategic importance in Australia’s region. Issues of overfishing, population growth and climate change are placing growing pressure on fish as a resource, and in doing so are making fisheries more significant, and significant on a strategic as opposed to simply an economic or environmental level. When combined with the growing use of fishing vessels as para-naval forces, it is clear that the activities of fishing craft, whether fishing or not fishing, are matters of considerable strategic relevance. This in turn highlights the importance of constabulary operations, the primary tool by which the Australian government manages the activities of fishing vessels in its maritime domain. This thesis goes on to demonstrate that this significance has not been fully appreciated by policy makers. Despite their strategic gravity, fish rarely make an appearance in discussions on oceans security. The contribution of constabulary operations to maritime security -- in the absence of hostilities -- remains unseen, under described, poorly appreciated and lacking a contemporary conceptualisation. The central tenet of this thesis is that constabulary operations in the absence of hostilities have an unrecognised strategic significance. Australia conducts constabulary operations and has done for decades, but it does not properly situate them within the necessary strategic and policy framework in order for them to be effective. In response to this failing, the thesis advances 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