1. Copy and paste the letter into your email

2. Write your name and date on the bottom

3. Fill in the email subject line: No Netting in Portland Bay

4. Send to: sonya.kilkenny@parliament.vic.gov.au 

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The Hon. Sonya Kilkenny
Minister for Planning
Minister for Outdoor Recreation
Level 16, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne VIC 3002

Dear Minister Kilkenny,

I am writing to you regarding my concerns with commercial netting in the Portland Bay area of State waters under Ocean Access Fishery Licences and the negative impacts of such an activity. The types of commercial netting activity allowed under this access licence, especially with no cap on levels of take, has the potential to impact our local recreational fishing, marine ecosystem, and whale migration in a negative way. 

To date, there are 157 Ocean Access Fishery Licences in Victoria, and many are inactive. Should this situation change, and the latent effort be realised, the negative impact will potentially extend from current localised recreational fishing impacts to reputational damage for Victorian Fisheries Authority and the State. 

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The Issue

1. Recreational Fishing is important to Portland and the Southwest Region
The Portland Bay area in Southwest Victoria is an important year-round, all weather recreational boat fishery for key fish species such as King George Whiting, Snapper and Southern Bluefin Tuna. The recreational game fishing in Portland, due to the proximity of the town to game fishing grounds, now has a National and International reputation. Due to stricter management measures in the multi-jurisdictional Yellowtail Kingfish stock, principally removing commercial fishing effort for this species in NSW, an emerging and high value sports fishery for Yellowtail Kingfish has developed in Portland Bay.

The regional community, local businesses, Local and State Governments have invested an enormous amount of money to promote the regional recreational fishery and to cater for local and visiting recreational fishers. The reputation of Portland as a world class, small boat recreational fishery and the subsequent tourism benefits are now under threat.

2. Transfer of Commercial Fishing Effort is impacting Social Licence and Recreational Fishing
A commercial operator who was subject to the Port Phillip Bay netting compensation process is now netting in important recreational fishing areas within Portland Bay under an Ocean Access Fishery Licence. This transfer of fishing effort is negatively impacting recreational fishing at Portland, due to competition for localised fishery resources. This is neither good policy, fishery management and is potentially a breach of the Fisheries Act 1995.

3. Compliance with the Voluntary Code of Conduct and a 'Gentleman's agreement' between Commercial and Recreational Fishing
In 1994, a  formal Code of Conduct was negotiated between government, commercial and recreational fishing to exclude commercial netting from important recreational fishing areas in Portland Bay. This was on top of a voluntary agreement that is being ignored by the new commercial operator and recreational fishers are rightly upset. 
Recreational King George Whiting and Snapper fishing took nearly a decade to recover from the localised depletion effects of commercial netting under a small number of ocean access fisheries licences operating in the area.

4. Fisheries Regulations are no longer fit for purpose & Precedence
Fisheries Regulations 2019 - Regulation 144 provides for a limited prohibition on all forms of netting in Portland Bay during public holiday long weekend and the Christmas and Easter periods. However, the modern recreational fishing community undertake fishing trips whenever they can take time off, and this is no longer predominantly Christmas, Easter, and public holidays.

Regulation 144 further reinforces the historical non-compliance of the voluntary code of conduct by the commercial fishing sector. Regulation 144 was implemented as a direct result of the negative impact that commercial netting was having on the inshore recreational fishing catch rates and recreational experience. 

5. Other Environmental Concerns
There are growing concerns across the broader local community that commercial fishing operations in the nearshore waters of Portland Bay will have negative impacts on the endangered Southern Right Whale migration and calving. The Conservation Management Plan for the Southern Right Whale 2011-2012 identifies the Portland Bay area as an emerging aggregation area. 

Whale entanglement in commercial netting is a listed key threatening process under the EPBA Act 1999 and in the subsequent (2018) Threat abatement plan for the impacts of marine debris on the vertebrate wildlife of Australia’s coasts and oceans. Night operations by commercial netters in the subject waters and no Vessel Monitoring System in place will guarantee low TEP interaction reporting requirements and significantly increase the risk of ongoing whale entanglements.

Our Request
That as the responsible Minster you: 
1. Instruct Victorian Fisheries Authority to immediately issue a Fisheries Notice under the Fisheries Act, that extends the Regulation 144 temporal prohibition on commercial netting in Portland Bay to 365 days a year.
2. Amend the Fisheries Regulations 2019 to prohibit all forms of commercial netting in Portland Bay from a line between Point Danger, through Lawrence Rocks and to the Fitzroy River mouth.

Thank you for your time on this matter.

Yours Sincerely,
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