Matt Hewson
Torquay Angling Club has launched a campaign to ban commercial netting close to shore at the township.
Citing both the protection of fishing stock for local anglers and ecological damage to marine flora and fauna – including whales and dolphins – the club is seeking to have commercial netting disallowed within three kilometres of the shoreline from Point Addis Marine Park to Thirteenth Beach.
Club commodore Peter Sharp said over recent months commercial fishing nets had regularly appeared close to shore.
“It’s escalated in the last three or four months; it’s been happening for a few years but before that it was minimal,” Mr Sharp said.
“You look out in the morning and it might only be 300 metres offshore there’s a netter who’s allowed to run two kilometres of net. We’re not anti-netting at all, I think that’s important to stress. (Commercial operators) have every right to catch fish and make a living. We just want to delineate areas (where that is allowed).”
The state government has spent millions of dollars in the Torquay area to promote recreational fishing, including artificial reefs with fish aggregation devices and facilities such as boat ramps and car parks.
“(The state government) has spent $20 million to get recreational fishing up and running really well, they’ve spent money all over the place… but they’re just not protecting it,” Mr Sharp said.
Since commercial netting was banned in Port Phillip Bay in 2022 operators have spread along Victoria’s coastlines to find other places to catch their stock in trade.
The commercial netters have not been warmly welcomed by regional townships in the South West. Last October local anglers were successful in their efforts to get commercial netting banned in Portland Bay, and a similar process is currently underway at Port Fairy.
Mr Sharp said the No Netting in Portland Bay group had been helpful in getting the Torquay campaign started, as had peak body VR Fish, although attempts to contact local politicians and Victorian Fisheries Authority had received little or no response.
He said the ecological aspect to the situation at Torquay was even more critical than at Portland or Port Fairy.
“What’s probably even more important is that we are dead set right in the whale migration zone,” Mr Sharp said.
“We see whales near where these guys are netting… we see hundreds of dolphins from the shore, a couple of hundred metres off the beach.”
Minister for Outdoor Recreation and the Environment Steve Dimopoulos did not respond directly to a request for comment, but a Victorian government spokesperson said the VFA was “engaging with Torquay fishing groups to address their concerns”.
“The commercial netting is being done legally, using an ocean access licence which has been in place for 40 years,” they said.
