Government extends net ban

Opera house yabby nets will be banned in private as well as public waters in Victoria from the middle of next year.

The State Government will introduce the ban from July 1, 2019 in reforms designed to protect vulnerable native animals such as platypuses, turtles and ‘rakali’ water rats.

Opera house nets provide no escape opportunities for non-target aquatic animals as well as yabbies and are responsible for the drowning deaths of protected species every year.

The use or possession of opera house nets in, on or next to all Victorian public waters has long been prohibited.

But the use of a maximum of three of the nets in private inland waters such as farm dams had previously been permitted.

Agriculture Minister Jaala Pulford said with open-top lift nets now more readily available the government would phase out opera house nets in Victoria.

She said many yabby enthusiasts had been buying opera house nets to target yabbies, unaware they could not be used in public waters in Victoria.

“Open-top lift nets can be used in both public and private waters and are proven to be effective yabby catchers,” she said.

“As part of the changes, a one-forone trade-in is planned, whereby anglers can trade in their old opera house nets for free open-top lift nets.”

Ms Pulford said trials had indicated that wildlife-friendly gear such as open-top lift nets and common hoop nets could actually catch more yabbies than opera house nets.

“Opera house nets have been placing our platypus population at risk, so it’s time for us to embrace different fishing gear that will catch just as many yabbies without impacting our precious wildlife,” she said.

“When these alternative nets are set for one hour, lifted and reset, they can catch a lot of yabbies.”

Victorian Fisheries Authority will work with the fishing tackle sector, anglers and environmental groups on an awareness campaign around wildlife-friendly yabby gear leading up to July 1 next year. Yabbying is a popular summer pastime across the Wimmera-mallee and strict possession limits and other rules apply to the capture and keeping of the freshwater crayfish.

A possession limit in, on, or next to Victorian waters is 20 litres of whole yabbies or 150 whole yabbies or five litres of yabby meat in any form and not exceeding 150 tails.

Anywhere else in Victoria, yabbiers must not possess more than 60 litres of whole yabbies or more than 400 whole yabbies or more than 10 litres of yabby meat, other than the whole yabby, and not exceeding 400 tails.

Net limits and other rules also apply.