Fisheries Victoria
'A fortnightly round-up of recreational fisheries management issues'

Fish-Fax issue 164, 2nd February 2006

Voluntary buy-back - Big win for recreational fishers

The Victorian Government's voluntary buy-back of commercial fishing licences in Victoria 's bays and inlets is a big win for recreational anglers with 14 licences being surrended by commercial fishers.

The recent voluntary buy-back has almost halved the commercial licences in the Gippsland Lakes – reducing from 18 to 10. This follows previous adjustment schemes that has seen licences reduce from the 31 that existed prior to 2002.

The announcement of the recent buy-back scheme was made in May last year. The buy-back worth almost $5 million will be funded over five years by the Fisheries Revenue Allocation Committee, which decides on the allocation of funds from the purchase of recreational fishing licences.

In addition to the eight licences in the Gippsland Lakes , four were surrended in Port Phillip Bay / Western Port and two at Corner Inlet. Since 2002 the number of commercial operators has gone from 206 to 76 – reducing by almost two-thirds in these waters.

The buy-back will assist in reducing the pressure on the already stressed Gippsland Lake bream stocks which are at risk from a range of threats including the impact of catchment and water use, altered salinity levels and fishing pressure.

The Government continues to strongly support recreational fishing as a great family activity; this includes $3.2 million announced last year in its Provincial Victoria Statement for new initiatives to be announced in 2006.

Regional recreational fisheries meetings give fishers a say

Victoria 's recreational fishers will be given the chance to have their say on future stockings and fishing opportunities at a number of regional meetings in February and March.

Recreational fishing is a major social and economic contributor to provincial communities and a major tourism drawcard. In the Provincial Statement “Moving Forward” launched in November 2005, the Victorian Government committed $3.2 million to improve recreational fishing and associated tourism outcomes in rural Victoria over the next four years. This is to be achieved by improving recreational fishing facilities and infrastructure and promoting and encouraging it as a family friendly activity.

There is an established process in place whereby stocking levels and locations of both native and salmonid fish species are determined. Each year Fisheries Victoria holds regional fisheries consultation meetings in five regional centres across the State. This year, the meetings are to be held in Benalla, Altona, Bendigo , Horsham and Traralgon and will provide an opportunity for Fisheries Victoria to engage representatives from the Victorian Recreational Fishing peak body (VRFish) and other stakeholders, including water authorities and catchment management authorities.

The meetings will provide the first of many opportunities for recreational fishing stakeholders to influence and contribute to the implementation of the recreational fishing improvement program announced in “Moving Forward” . The meetings will not only determine stocking levels and identify fish population surveys to be conducted, but will also address other fisheries management issues.

Fisheries Officers catch illegal netters

Fisheries Officers recently seized illegal mesh nets, an inflatable boat and a number of fish, including a two kilogram tagged rainbow trout from Rushworth.

The equipment was seized from two men who were detected mesh netting in Waranga Basin and the Cattanach Channel at Rushworth. A number of fish were seized, including the two kilogram tagged rainbow trout that tagging information indicates was released into Eildon pondage some weeks earlier. The maximum penalty for this type of offence is $10,250, six months imprisonment or both for each charge.

The seizure was the result of a report by a member of the community to Fisheries Victoria's 13 FISH (13 3474)-phone number. Fisheries Victoria encourages community members to report any suspicious or illegal fishing activity to 13 FISH – which operates 24 hours a day and provides valuable information for enforcement staff to act upon.

Native fish flourish in Barmah-Millewa Forest floods

Recent flooding in the Barmah-Millewa Forest on the Murray River has proved a huge success for native fish breeding. As mentioned in issue 158 of Fish-e-Fax, from mid October to mid December 2005, about 480 GL of environmental water was released, inundating more than half of the Barmah-Millewa Forest wetland.

Golden perch and silver perch, which is a threatened species in both Victoria and New South Wales , are both thriving in the environmental flows - good news for fish stocks in coming years.

Researchers at the Arthur Rylah Institute for Environmental Research (ARI) have monitored fish spawning in the region for the past three years. This year for the first time, they have established a definite link between the use of environmental water and increased fish breeding.

Both golden perch and silver perch spawn their eggs into the water column where they are swept downstream and hatch into 4 mm long larvae within 24 – 48 hours. This is only the first step in the survival of a young fish, but the massive increase in egg numbers is a positive sign for future adult populations. Flooding is also thought to enhance nutrients and food availability, meaning better conditions for a number of other fish species, including Murray cod.

The current fish research program, funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission, will continue during the coming months. The information collected will be used to help manage future flow events to improve the environmental benefits for fish.

Farm water for fish in Victorian rivers

The Living Murray Initiative – a $93 million agreement between the Federal and state government-plans to return 500 billion litres of water to the Murray River each year.

The first water recovery project under the Living Murray Initiative will return 145 gigalitres (GL) a year to the environment (One GL is equal to 1 billion litres – enough to fill about 1000 Olympic size swimming pools). The bulk of the water comes from farmers in northern Victoria who have agreed to give up 120 GL of water annually as part of deal with the Victorian government.

The $93 million package would not only benefit some of the Murray River's premier sites, but also provide important environmental benefits to Victoria 's Goulburn, Loddon and Campaspe rivers.

As described in the previous article, extra water returned to the Barmah forest area last year has already shown positive results for native fish stocks. Water is expected to begin to be returned to key sites along the Murray River in spring next year.