Andrew Mathieson
FISH populations have reached record highs in Corio and Port Phillip bays, according to the state fisheries authority.
The Fisheries Victoria figures have doused fears a controversial project to dredge Port Phillip shipping channels last year would devastate marine life.
Queenscliff’s Marine and Fresh-water Resources Institute reported “good catches” from Corio Bay and surrounding waters in recent months.
Acting fisheries director Travis Dowling said a diverse range of fish including King George whiting, snapper, garfish, calamari, gummy sharks and pike were on the bite.
“Fish stocks naturally fluctuate over time but at the moment there are very good numbers of nice table fish available in the bay,” he said.
Mr Dowling said Fisheries Victoria research had shown that successful “recruitment” of juvenile whiting and snapper into the bays during recent years had resulted in “lots of fish growing above the size limit”.
State’s Office of the Environment Monitor director Don Hough backed the claims of a rising fish bounty in the bays.
Mr Hough said information from a Baywide fish egg and larval monitoring program showed that more snapper larvae were present, suggesting increased catches of the prized table fish in the next four years.
A Baywide study also sampled more than 360,000 anchovies from the bay, indicating the bay had an “abundant” supply of the fish.
Mr Hough said the bay was in “good health” according to monitoring results from the channel-deepening project.
Some fishing experts claim that species enjoying deeper water might also have benefited from the dredging project’s deeper channels.
Recreational angler Mike Wilson said fishing a few spots around the Bellarine Peninsula was now guaranteed to “give me a feed”.
“I’ve been coming down for three years and I certainly think the fishing has improved in the last few months,” he said.
Mr Wilson had “a good run” recently with King George whiting and snapper off Queenscliff pier.
The visiting Ballarat fisherman was reeling in a catch just a few seconds after Independent photographer Tommy Ritchie approached him this week.