General News
14 December, 2024
Night raiders irk anglers
By CHRIS EARL PATROLS will be made along the Loddon River amid reports of illegal net fishing over the past fortnight. Landowners between Bridgewater and Serpentine say groups have driven across private land as late as 3am. “They’re sneaking...
By CHRIS EARL
PATROLS will be made along the Loddon River amid reports of illegal net fishing over the past fortnight.
Landowners between Bridgewater and Serpentine say groups have driven across private land as late as 3am.
“They’re sneaking around the river and we’re getting pretty sick of it,” one farmer told the Loddon Herald after lodging complaints with the Victorian Fisheries Authority.
“It’s private property and they’re driving in at all hours without permission.
“We found three or four cars parked within 100 metres and they said they didn’t know each other. They were quickly told to leave.”
Reports of net fishing on the Loddon have annoyed members of the Kyneton Angling Club who had their annual Murray cod fishing tournament at Salisbury West last weekend.
“It destroys the river for everyone,” said tournament winner Rohan Taylor.
“We don’t want any illegal netting. It’s not on.”
Mr Taylor and club president John Condliffe said that as private citizens, they could not intervene if there was alleged illegal activity.
“By the time we call police or fisheries inspectors, they’re long gone,” the pair said.
“These fishing groups disregard limits for catches and for the size of fish. They don’t care.”
Mr Taylor, who caught a 49cm Murray Cod at the weekend and four yellow bellies, said fish were breeding well in the river.
Another member of the club said juvenile fish had been returned to the river and there were several fish near the river bank close to releasing eggs into the waters.
Murray Plains MP Peter Walsh said the Government’s constant slashing of key positions across regional and rural areas is starting to have serious impacts at the grassroots level.
Mr Walsh said he was not surprised to hear local waterways were becoming the target of illegal net fishers because there was simply no one there to protect native fisheries.
He said the Victorian Fisheries Authority only existed on websites and in the government’s imagination because it had “no serious presence in the field, where it is urgently needed”.
A Victorian Fisheries Authority spokesman said: “We encourage people to ring 13FISH (13 3474) any time they see or suspect illegal fishing.”
“The information is invaluable in looking after our precious fisheries for years to come and you can remain anonymous.
“Fisheries officers patrol the Loddon as part of routine work on a regular basis and find most fishers doing the right thing.
“The Loddon is one of many waters around the state which benefits from our record-breaking fish stocking program, which saw 11.5 million fish released in 2023-2024.”
Officers patrol waters in the region, like the Loddon River, by kayak, boat and on foot to ensure anglers follow rules.