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

Fish-Fax issue 177, 3rd August 2006

Increased abalone theft results in reduced bag limits

On 1 September 2006 the Victorian Government will implement regulations for recreational abalone fishing that will aid in protecting Victoria 's valuable abalone stocks. A reduction in the daily catch limit from 10 to 5 abalone per person (of which no more than 2 can be greenlip) for the western and eastern waters of Victoria will bring uniformity to waters across the whole state. These changes will result in a consistent recreational bag limit of five abalone per day within all Victorian waters.

This precautionary management arrangement has been necessary due to an increase in effort from illegal abalone poachers in Victoria 's eastern and particularly western waters since last September, when the closed season for central waters was announced and bag limit reduced from 10 to 5 per person per day. Since then, more than 60 people have been seen, intercepted or apprehended for their suspected or actual involvement in abalone crime in western and eastern waters. Many of them have a history of abalone theft in central waters.

The Victorian Government has also announced the 60 open days for the 2006/07 recreational abalone fishing season for central Victorian waters. The nominated open days were determined in consultation with recreational abalone fishing stakeholders, and the Victorian Recreational Fishing peak body, VRFish. The proposed days were selected around weekends and public holidays to maximise diving opportunities for recreational fishers.

Open days for the 2006/07 season and the reduced bag limit commence 1 September 2006. Other regulations apply for recreational abalone fishing. For further information please contact the customer service centre on 136 186. The 2006/07 season open days are listed below; periods are inclusive of the first and last day specified for each period.

Routine inspections uncover an illegal fisher

A Craigieburn man pleaded guilty in court earlier this year to two charges: fishing without a valid recreational fishing licence and knowingly making a false or misleading statement.

The man was approached in January this year by Fisheries Victoria Officers who were conducting routine land based boat inspections at Phillip Island . When asked to present his recreational fishing licence, the man presented a licence of which the details had been written over in black ink. The “valid from” date on the licence appeared to have been changed.

Upon questioning at inspection, the man stated that the details had not been changed and that was how he had first received the licence. Follow up investigations through the fisheries recreational licensing unit revealed that the recreational fishing licence was in fact invalid at the time of inspection and that the licence details had been fraudulent. As a result, the court charged the man without conviction and bailed him on his own undertaking for six months.

Money from the sale of recreational fishing licences is received into the Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL) Trust Account. Each year the trust fund allocates the fees to projects that will directly improve recreational fishing in Victoria .

Surry River update

Last week the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (Glenelg Hopkins CMA) introduced pumps to remove water from the Surry River in an effort to alleviate rising waters. As mentioned in Fish-e-Fax issue 176 (20 July 2006), the CMA were hoping a significant rainfall would open the river naturally. The much-needed rain did not come therefore, the CMA took action.

Two giant pumps were installed to fixed positions on the waters edge and hoses were fed from the river to the sea. Each pump removes 1.2 mega litres of water per hour, drawing the oxygen-depleted water from the lower levels of the estuary.

The absence of water mixing due to consistently low flows in the estuary caused what is called oxygen stratification. Dense, anoxic water sank to the bottom of the estuary, resulting in a thick layer of inhabitable water. The removal of this water into the sea has enhanced flow and also lowered the water level of the river that was threatening nearby agricultural land.

July stocking figures

Victorian waters stocked between 1 and 7 July 2006.