13/08/2019

Why all Victorian recreational fishers should be licensed More than 50% of Victorian adult recreational fishers are unlicensed, thanks to a generous suite of exemptions.  These privileges date back to a time when governments met the full cost of the State’s recreational fisheries program and an inland fishing licence funded some extra benefits. Licence exemptions […]

12/08/2019

Fishing is one of the lowest threats facing the world’s oceans Abstract Humans interact with the oceans in diverse and profound ways. The scope, magnitude, footprint and ultimate cumulative impacts of human activities can threaten ocean ecosystems and have changed over time, resulting in new challenges and threats to marine ecosystems. A fundamental gap in […]

13/06/2019

By 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, […]

13/06/2019

The 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 […]

16/04/2019

Four 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 […]

14/03/2019

REPRODUCED FROM AUSTRALIA POST WEBSITE Sustainable fishing means keeping fishing activity to a level that allows it to continue indefinitely, maintaining the integrity of ecosystems where fishing occurs, and using non-destructive, wild-capture fishing techniques. Australia rates highly on an international scale in terms of sustainable fishing practices. A recent study (2013) by the Fisheries Research […]

22/02/2019

By Ross Winstanley* Recreational fishing in Australia faces an interesting challenge: a recent decline in the community’s view of its sustainability.  While community perceptions of commercial fishing’s sustainability sit at a lower level, the industry has invested heavily – and with some success – in maintaining public support.  It would be risky for recreational fishing […]

22/02/2019

By Tanya King  Senior  Lecturer In Anthropology, Deakin University In 2017 many of you would have been invited to complete a survey on health, wellbeing, safety and resilience, as part of the FRDC-funded project, Sustainable Fishing Families. The report of this project has recently been released and the results are confronting, highlighting poor health outcomes […]

14/02/2019

The Southern Shark Industry Alliance (SSIA) represents operators and quota holders in the Commonwealth managed gillnet, hook and trap (GHaT) sector, a sector in the larger fishery that also encompasses the trawl fishery.  SSIA recently wrote to a large number of fish and chip shops across Australia. The letter explained to these selected shops that […]