Fish bites: Victoria fights abalone disease outbreak

Agriculture Victoria yesterday issued an urgent update to fishers warning them to stay out of an exclusion zone around Portland where the diseased abalone were found, as it moves to try and control the spread of the disease.

“A control area has been declared following the detection of abalone viral ganglioneuritis (AVG) near Cape Nelson,” Agriculture Victoria said.

“Agriculture Victoria is conducting further testing and assessments and is working closely with the Victorian Fisheries Authority to respond to this detection.

“The control area spans along the coastline from Bridgewater Bay in the west to past Narrawong in the east and is varied offshore to 30m ocean depth. This includes Portland.”

However, the control order bans all use of commercial and recreational nets in the area, and extends to include all shellfish, crayfish, sea urchins and even sand and rocks raised from the ocean floor.

Line fishing, from both boats and the shoreline, is also is prohibited, and boats anchored in the area are effectively quarantined. Boats passing through the zone but not stopping are not affected.

Three men now risk having their boat crushed by NSW fishing authorities after being caught with more than double the bag limit of mud crab.

NSW Department of Primary Industries Fishing said the men were caught with 43 mud crabs – the possession limit is five per person  – weighing a combined 26kg, as well as an illegal cast net and a trap that did not belong to anyone on the boat.

The boat has since been confiscated.

“Two of the men have since been issued penalty notices totalling $2200 and the remaining man is expected to be issued court attendance notices to face multiple charges,” NSW DPI Fishing said.

The mud crabs were returned to the water alive.

NSW fishers are being asked where they’d like the next batch of artificial reefs to be laid off the NSW coastline.

NSW Department of Primary Industries Fishing has handed the decision of where a new series of offshore artificial reefs will be laid up to the people who will use them, inviting the state’s fishers to fill out a survey of where the reefs should sit.

It is particularly interested to hear suggestions from fishing clubs, organisations and the broader recreational fishing community.

You can find the survey here.

The seasonal closure for Shark Bay’s Eastern Gulf pink snapper fishery has kicked in, with the fishery now officially off-limits until August 1. 

The nearby Freycinet Estuary pink snapper fishery closed on August 15 and is not due to open again until October 1.

“Shark Bay is an important breeding area for pink snapper with a population that does not interbreed with stock from other nearby gulfs, or the wider oceanic population, making them particularly vulnerable,” Fisheries WA said.

“Providing protection for these aggregations is critical for sustaining adequate breeding stock of these long-lived fish.”