August 23, 2019
COMMENTS CLOSE 13 SEPTEMBER 2019
VRFish has been asked to provide the views of recreational fishers on the open days for recreational abalone fishing in the Central Zone (Aire River to Venus Bay). Fisheries Notices need to be renewed every 12 months hence the requirement for public consultation.
The Fisheries Notice applies to only recreational fishers and the Victorian Fisheries Authority are not suggesting any changes from last year. The Fisheries Notice restricts which days recreational fishers can take abalone. The Fishery Notice permits recreational fishers to take abalone on 60 specific days of the year, namely:
- Every Saturday and Sunday between 16 November 2019 to 20 April 2020
- Every declared Public Holiday in the State of Victoria from the 16 November 2019 to 20 April 2020
- 25 December to the second Sunday in January 2020, inclusive.
DOWNLOAD THE DRAFT 2019 ABALONE OPEN DAYS FISHERIES NOTICE
VRFish expressed for many years its opposition of the Fishery Notice on the basis that the limit of days is highly restrictive. Not all fishers are available on weekends nor want to put up with long queues at our boat ramps on weekends or over the Christmas period. Each permitted weekend day may not be fishable due to weather conditions so our access is further diminished. Due to these restrictions our abalone recreational fishery is under-utilised and experiences low participation rate.
What do you think? Specifically, we are keen for fishers to propose to VRFish their ideas for new and innovative ways to advance our abalone recreational fishery in the Central Zone. Our abalone fishery is a high-risk fishery so any future options must give due consideration of how we can control or monitor our catch while allowing greater opportunities for recreational fishers.
VRFish needs to formulate and submit a response by 13 September 2019. Please pass your feedback to [email protected] to help compile our response.
#makefishingbetter
A Fisheries Notice is a management tool which can be implement promptly and in response to emerging fisheries management issues. Once approved by the Chief Executive Officer of the Victorian Fisheries Authority, a Fisheries Notice unless revoked earlier are valid for a period of 12 months.
