Cost of Victorian angling gift

A gift to anglers cost Victorian fish consumers

MELBOURNE Ross Winstanley

Victorian consumers were never consulted and remain unaware that they have lost access to 600 tonnes of fresh local sustainable fish. The 99% of 6.6 million Victorians who don’t fish, lost out so that the 1% who catch fish regularly in the bay, can catch more fish.

That’s not what anglers asked for.

What began as anglers demanding greater access to fish in Port Phillip Bay, got caught up in a wider political agenda, gifting anglers 100% re-allocation of most fish stocks. In 2015, the Government’s legislation led eight commercial fishermen to lock themselves into a ‘deal’ that was shredded in February 2022. This was just weeks before they were set to begin operating in a hookbased fishery.

BACKGROUND

It all started with what Port Phillip Bay anglers demanded in 2013 – no nets, and more fish. In November 2014, then Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews promised to phase out commercial net fishing and increase fish numbers for anglers.

That’s exactly what anglers had asked for.

In 2015, the policy aim A return to 19th Century methods was technically feasible, but has been made financially unviable.

“providing the certainty that commercial fishers need … so they can make decisions about their businesses”.

She explained that the rationale for the policy was, “around increasing participation in recreational fishing”. Reducing commercial licence numbers from 43 to eight was, “to ensure that they will be viable licences”. That’s where the balance between viable businesses, taking a quota of 11 tonnes of snapper each, plus whatever else they could take using hooks, jigs and traps. As they were led to believe, that was ‘the deal’.

WHAT HAPPENED?

In December 2015, the Fisheries Amendment Act 2015 came into effect. Its stated purpose was to phase out nets, provide for a hookbased fishery from 2022, and to compensate fishermen who surrendered their licences.

It specified the 11 tonne snapper quotas, the removal of nets, and compensation arrangements for surrendered licences. Neither “jigs” nor “fish traps” were mentioned among restrictions on fishing beyond 2022. Those wishing to continue in the hook-based fishing had to decide before April 2016. After that, they were locked in to the ‘deal’ that specified 11 tonne snapper quotas, but no other limits.

Based on the terms of the Act and the Minister’s assurances, eight fishermen assessed their future viability and took the irrevocable decision to stay in the fishery beyond 2022. The ‘deal’ was now set in legislation, or so they believed.

By April 2016, 33 licences were surrendered, and 10 fishermen continued to fish under “catch caps” based on their recent catch histories. Between 2017 and 2022, under those catch caps, and still using nets, nine fishermen’s total catch averaged 245 tonnes, including 25 tonnes of whiting and six tonnes of calamari. Neither the VFA nor anglers showed any concern about these catch levels.

So, in February 2022, why were anglers suddenly upset about the VFA’s proposal of a hook fishery with a total annual cap or upper limit of 232 tonnes, including 24 tonnes of whiting and 16 tonnes of calamari? CONFUSING

JUSTIFICATION

It has been said repeatedly that this process was driven by the 2014 political commitment to anglers – not on the grounds of the sustainability of fishing. That’s for sure; we have 20 years of assessments showing that the combined impacts of recreational and commercial fishing in the Bay are sustainable.

Minister Horne’s April 2022 media release states that recreational fishing’s statewide value is, “over $3.9 billion … supporting 33,000 jobs”. Then, if the Government values the contribution of fishing to the State’s economy, why is it happily depriving the economy of the additional and proven value of the sustainable commercial fishery? In doing so, it is disenfranchising current and future generations of Victorian consumers. Overall, that’s a nett loss of access to the community and a multi-million dollar loss to the economy.

With the reduced fisher numbers, operating without nets, commercial fishing could be guaranteed to be more compatible with recreational fishing, while preserving much of its associated social, economic and employment benefits. We – fishers and consumers – could be enjoying both, as we have for decades, to the greater benefit of the State’s economy.

ALONG CAME 2022

On 9 February 2022, an on-line “stakeholder mediation” meeting was held between the VFA, Seafood Industry Victoria (SIV), VRFish, Futurefish Foundation, and five of the licence holders. For the post-March fishery, the VFA offered each licence holder up to 11 tonnes of snapper, and up to 18 tonnes of other species, including whiting (3t) and calamari (2t). SIV’s starting position was for each to take up to 11 tonnes of snapper, with no limits on other species, for a monitored trial over three years.

After discussions held on condition of strict confidentiality, SIV agreed to put the VFA’s proposed 29 tonne catch limits to all eight licence holders. Subsequently, all eight signed their acceptances of the VFA’s offer.

Two days after the meeting – on 11 February – VRFish broke that confidence and issued a release citing SIV’s initial ‘no-limit’ position, and urging anglers to write to the Minister in protest. The VRFish release misrepresented the outcome of the meeting; SIV had moved on from their initial ‘no limits’ position. VRFish also misrepresented the 2014 Coalition and Labor pre-election promises; there was no stated intent to ‘re-allocate’ fish stocks or to restrict commercial fishing to taking snapper “only”. And, it misrepresented the intent of parliament in passing the Fisheries Amendment Act 2015.

The whole point of confidentiality was to allow for all eight continuing fishermen to be informed and to consider the VFA’s proposal, following the meeting. But, it seems that the damage was done. Without any further consultation, the VFA withdrew the 9 February proposal. Instead, on 11 March, they released a Fisheries Notice limiting each licence holder to a maximum of 11 tonnes of snapper, one tonne of shark and two tonnes of ‘other fish’, but zero take of whiting, calamari, kingfish or mulloway. This restricted each licence holder to a total possible catch of 14 tonnes, and banned them from taking the two top-valued species, whiting and calamari.

The VFA cited undisclosed scientific and economic advice as the basis for the Fisheries Notice. WHERE DOES

THAT LEAVE US?

Anglers went from wanting to ban nets to increase fish numbers in 2013, to receiving 100% re-allocation of whiting, calamari, kingfish, and mulloway in the Bay. They were also effectively ‘gifted’ flounder, salmon, mullet, garfish, leatherjacket, trevally, etc, which cannot be taken profitably on hooks within a two tonne total catch limit.

That’s not what anglers set out to achieve in 2013. It’s not what parliament imagined when the debate covered four days and 40 pages of Hansard records in 2015. The Fisheries Amendment Act 2015 formalised Government policy: a hook-based fishery, including 88 tonnes of snapper with no mention of limits set for other species.

So anglers got much more than they wanted while the owners of eight small businesses were deceived. The Government got their Target One Million, as their Red Fox Report showed: 1,000,841 adult fishers in 2017. Victorian consumers were never consulted and remain unaware that they have lost 600 tonnes of fresh local sustainable fish. Their elected representatives failed them.

It could be said that the Government betrayed those eight fishermen, cheated consumers and turned the 2015 parliamentary debate into a farce. The majority of Victorians who don’t fish, lost out so that the 1% minority who regularly enjoy catching fish in the Bay, can catch even more fish. In the process, the Government disenfranchised present and future generations of Victorians – the owners of the resource – of their right of access to Bay fish, unless they catch it themselves.

In his 15 November 2014 pre-election statement, Daniel Andrews stated: “We’re on the side of recreational fishers”. So true. • The author, Ross Winstanley, attended the 2013 Geelong meeting that started the ‘no nets’ campaign, and followed developments as this led into the Target One Million policy program. He was part of the February 2022 meeting where the VFA’s 29 tonne per licence holder was discussed.

Scenes like this fuelled the start of Geelong anglers’ Corio Bay anti-net fishing campaign in 2013.

quickly shifted to what the newly-elected Andrews Government wanted – Target One Million or one million adult anglers by 2020.

That’s not what anglers asked for.

During four days, the Victorian parliament debated the legal framework needed to put the Government’s policy in place. The Fisheries Amendment Bill 2015 debate covered 40 pages of Hansard.

Then-minister Jaala Pulford ‘owned’ the policy and explained the Government’s objectives: to increase fish numbers and to reduce “spatial competition” by removing net fishing and reducing commercial fisher numbers. Having spent time with the commercial fishermen and their families, she repeatedly stressed the importance of, commercial and recreational interests lay.

She confirmed that about 90% of snapper and more than 50% of whiting caught commercially in Victorian waters come from the Bay. But, in over 35,000 words, there was no mention of re-allocating whole stocks, such as whiting and calamari, to anglers. And, no mention of ‘capping’ catches of species other than snapper, let alone an overall limit of 14 tonnes per licence holder.

Proposing a, “clear and fair exit strategy for licence holders”, the Government then offered the 43 commercial fishermen the choice: surrender their licences, or remain in a hook-based fishery from April 2022. Eight opted for the latter, based on their assessment that they would be able to operate