Commercial net fishing ban starts
COMMERCIAL net fishing in Corio Bay has officially ended.
The State Government has met its commitments to remove commercial net fishing from the bay by April, Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said.
“Our bay fishery is going from strength to strength and removing commercial net fishing will only hasten its development as a mecca for saltwater anglers,” she said.
The ban is part of a wider move to cease commercial netting throughout Port Phillip Bay by 2022.
There are just nine commercial licence holders left operating throughout Port Phillip Bay who are using nets.
Of those, eight have chosen to stay in the bay after 2022 using mainly longlines, fishing lines and squid jigs.
All but 10 of the 43 licence holders left Port Phillip Bay’s commercial net fishery in 2016, after accepting compensation packages.
Another one is in the process of exiting the fishery.
Between them, the 33 operators caught 87 per cent of the overall commercial catch.
Labor’s Bellarine MP Lisa Neville said the phased-out ban was great for local recreational fishers. “The fishermen I have spoken to tell me there’s been a great improvement in fishing with flathead, calamari and whiting being caught regularly,” Ms Neville said.
Recent research by the Victorian Fisheries Authority found a strong year of juvenile King George whiting settlement in the bay, providing optimism for anglers from 2019 to 2021.