A FOUR-week public consultation period began last week on a proposed “sliding catch cap” on the harvest of fish by licensed commercial fishers in Port Phillip and Western Port bays.
Fisheries Victoria met with Seafood Industry Victoria representatives Wednesday to discuss the proposed changes.
The sliding cap is an integral part of phasing-out commercial netting in Port Phillip Bay – a commitment made last year in the state government’s Target One Million plan that aims to increase participation in the recreational fishing sector.
“The proposed cap will prevent any increase in commercial fishing during the phase-out period of eight years,” Fisheries Victoria executive director Travis Dowling said.
“It will also ensure that, as licences are bought out from the fishery, the overall catch reduces in a fair and transparent way.
“The cap will place an annual catch limit on each fishing licence based on the average catch over five years prior to the announcement to remove netting.
“After listening to industry it was decided to use an average of five years of catch as this was the fairest way to introduce the cap, but also note individual’s personal circumstances and fluctuations in fish abundance.
“There is also a proposal to introduce new reporting requirements for commercial fishers to enable effective enforcement of the cap, consistent with best-practice fisheries management in Australia.”
The consultation period ends on 25 September.
First published in the Chelsea Mordialloc Mentone News – 2 September 2015
