An AOS survey completed in winter 2019 found that there were 42,600 tonnes of adult fish spawning on two hills in the eastern zone. Immature, non-spawning and southern fish were not surveyed and are additional to this. ...
READ MOREBy Ross Winstanley* In July 1862, Victoria's out-going Inspector of Fisheries and Oyster Beds, James Putwain, wrote a report of his observations of the colony's commercial fisheries to deputy premier Charles Duffy. Irish-born Duffy was the Commissioner for Public Works, President of the Board of Land and Works, and Commissioner for Crown Lands and Survey, later to become Prem...
READ MOREThe peak industry body for commercial fishers in Victoria is Seafood Industry Victoria (SIV). SIV is funded by a small compulsory fee on all Victorian fishing licences. The Victorian Government recently wrote to Victorian fishers asking if they wanted to continue paying this fee. Victoria has shut down net fishing in Port Phillip Bay, has reduced the days that remaining operators can work (...
READ MOREFour years ago, AFMA installed cameras on gillnet vessels targeting sharks in the south-east fishery to monitor dolphin and sea-lion interactions. However, a consequence of doing this was that human observers were removed from these vessels. These observers collected data on interactions with dolphins and seals but also collected lengths and vertebrae, which are used to age sharks. These â€...
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