Victoria tipped to soon ease COVID-19 fishing, boating bans

However, while land-based fishers will rejoice, boatsales.com.au believes the state’s boaters will have to wait until at least after the Anzac Day weekend before being given the green light to venture out on the water for the first time since the lockdowns – the strictest in Australia – were introduced.

Even then, boating is expected to be limited to daylight hours only.

Boatsales.com.au has contacted the Victorian Department of Transport for comment.

Any easing of restrictions will be welcome news for fishing industry retailers, whose business dried up overnight after fishers venturing out after the state of emergency was declared were handed warnings and in some cases heavy fines for not following strict public isolation rules.

The move should also be welcomed by marinas and service centres, which were allowed to work on boats that were on their premises before the coronavirus control measures were introduced, but were effectively banned from accepting any new projects.

Victoria’s peak boating group, the Boating Industry Association of Victoria, said it was still seeking clarity over what the industry was allowed to do under current restrictions.

BIAV chief executive Steve Walker said the industry was still waiting on the Victorian Government to “spell out in black and white” whether owners could take their boats to a dealer or service centre for maintenance.

“If it is already there or they [the service centre] can pick it up for you, you can get it done,” Walker said. “We believe if a store is open, legally it’s our belief that you can go to it if the business is operating and they’re operating within the guidelines.

“Legally a person should be able to tow their boat there without breaching any of the distancing rules, and then when it’s finished, collect it.

“We’re just wanting that to be spelt out in black and white.”

Walker said Victoria had issued a statement from the state’s chief health officer answering a number of common questions, but the document only said it was okay for a boat dealer to take a customer out on the water for a test drive.

“But we said ‘what if a mechanic wants to take a boat out for an engine test after they’ve reconditioned it or fixed it’, we want that in black and white as well,” he said.

“They’ve said that boat ramps are currently closed currently for recreational boating, but not for commercial purposes, so we’ve just asked for greater clarity around that.

“We’ve told our members … we’re urging the government to make it even clearer that if someone is pulled up by the police they can say ‘well, I’m allowed to do this’.”

Victoria’s Stage 3 COVID-19 restrictions were introduced on March 31 and extended on April 12 until at least May 11.

The state has successfully curbed the spread of coronavirus by giving the Victorian health system “the best chance of managing the virus”.

Victoria has the second-highest rate of coronavirus infection in Australia, with 1301 cases and 14 deaths, the latest figures show.

This is well behind NSW, which officially has 2897 cases and 25 deaths attributed t the pandemic.

Australia currently has more than 6400 recorded cases of coronavirus, of which more than 3700 have recovered and 63 have died.