The stretch of water that divides Australia and Indonesia measures some 2000 kilometres in length. It incorporates two seas, the Timor and Arafura, and a number of reefs, islands and a continental shelf rich in oil and gas resources. The creation of seabed boundaries within this maritime zone has been the subject of discussions in Jakarta and Canberra for over three decades. These high level discussions, marked until recently by the political civility and decorum required for matters of such sensitivity, have been far removed from the stormy nature of relations at sea level. In ways reminiscent of the colonial process of territorial expansion on the mainland, these waters have been transformed into a frontier zone, a maritime site to be mapped, owned, exploited, militarised and policed. As a result, eastern Indonesian fishermen, who have fished in these same waters for centuries, have been subject to practices of eviction, containment and incarceration which are similar to the experiences marking European colonisation of Aboriginal populations.