February 28, 2022
VRFish commends Minister Horne on the decision to continue limiting commercial fishing bycatch in Port Phillip Bay.
Commercial fishing nets will be removed from Port Phillip Bay by 1 April 2022, delivering an election commitment by the Andrews Labor Government. Eight snapper longline fishing licences will remain.
Earlier this month, a proposal for an unlimited bycatch regime for the remaining commercial fishers in the Bay was sent to the Minister. VRFish and our constituents opposed the proposal.
VRFish Chairman, Mr. Rob Loats, said “We applaud Minister Horne and the Andrews Labor Government for standing by their election commitment and making recreational fishing in the Bay better into the future.”
“More than 819,000 people go recreational fishing in Port Phillip Bay annually making it the most popular fishing destination across the state.”
The Victorian Fisheries Authority will begin consultation shortly to determine the allowable catch of other species. It’s expected to be no more than one tonne of flathead, one tonne of shark and two tonne of other species (excluding King George Whiting and calamari) per commercial licence.
