Combatting illegal fishing off the coast of northern Australia will be strengthened by more support for Indigenous Rangers.

The announcement, as part of the federal government's Operation Lunar, will see the development of a new partnership with local land councils and Indigenous ranger groups to help monitor the 10,000km of remote and often inaccessible coastline across the top of the NT, as well as the network of 887 islands.

A new helicopter to allow Border Force to respond faster to illegal maritime activity has also been announced.

Speaking at Darwin airport on Wednesday afternoon, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, along with NT MPs Luke Gosling and Marion Scrymgour, said the relationship with Rangers would be pivotal to the success of Operation Lunar.

"Today, we're making clear that we're wanting to re-establish an arrangement with the Indigenous ranger groups across the Northern Territory," Minister Burke said.

"Some of those operate through the Northern Land Councils, some of them operate through other land councils, [and] some of them operate independently."

He said the government would be working and consulting with all of them to "find a pathway that works for those Ranger groups".

"Let's face it, no one knows that sea country better than those rangers," he said.

Mr Burke didn't confirm what land councils would receive extra funding but noted: "There will have to be additional resources – the nature of those resources and exactly how that is put together is something that's part of the co-design."

In a statement, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy said Indigenous Rangers played a "vital role in caring for land and sea Country".

"Our different ranger groups in the Northern Territory are ideally placed across vast areas, to help be the eyes and ears of northern Australia," Ms McCarthy said.

The NT Senator has been strong proponent of the Ranger program, with the government announcing in October more than a 1000 Indigenous Ranger positions would be created Australia-wide—up to 770 of them for First Nations women.

Mr Burke said he wanted the government to have a long-lasting relationship with Rangers.

"You might have a look at who held my portfolio in 2017 to see Peter Dutton's record and to see what his approach was, which was to end those partnerships," he said.

Last year, the Northern Land Council said they were alarmed at the increased number of foreign fishing vessels landing on the shores of North-West Arnhem Land.

Along with the violation of Australia's border and the impact on sustainable fishing, Traditional Owners said they were concerned about the potentially devastating biosecurity risks.

These include the Indonesian outbreaks of lumpy skin, as well as foot and mouth disease, both of which the NLC said posed an "incredible threat to local industries".

Furthermore, NLC constituents say they were worried about bird flu getting into magpie geese and wild duck populations — a significant food source for remote communities.

"If these diseases were to enter Australia it would greatly impact livelihoods and cost the Australian economy billions of dollars," an NLC spokesperson said last year.