Victorian Government angles for fishers’ votes ahead of state election

The Victorian Government has gone all out to woo anglers ahead of next month’s state election, announcing plans for an expanded fish farm to stock the state’s waters, fish attractors, and bags of cash to make the sport more enjoyable.

The move comes after the Victorian Opposition said recently it would tip more of the $27.7 million in funds collected from boat owners each year into improving access to the state’s waterways, and specifically targeting overcrowded boat ramps.

The Andrews Labor Government announced yesterday that it had opened up the books on its annual Recreational Fishing Grants Program to let fishing clubs, community groups, charities and government groups apply for grants of up to $5000 to improve the lot of recreational anglers.

Previous projects have included fish cleaning tables, signage, stiles over fences to improve access, fishing platforms and jetties, and re-snagging to improve fish habitat in rivers and lakes.

Last year the program allocated $1 million to 16 projects throughout the state. It also helped to pay for fisheries officers, the VRFish fishing advocacy board, and fish production at Snobs Creek.

Meanwhile, a trial of fish attractors at Torquay targeting kingfish will extend for a second year.

The fish attracting decvices (FADs) are large floating surface buoys attached to a rope that descends 25 metres to concrete reef modules below, with flashing lights to ensure safe navigation in low light and at night.

A smaller sub-surface buoy on the rope adds a secondary fish attracting element to help draw any kingfish using the reef up to the surface.

The Torquay reef was deployed in 2015, and rests about three kilometres offshore. It is the state's biggest artificial reef, and is made up of 25 concrete modules, up to four metres high and weighing up to 20 tonnes each, arranged in five clusters of five. Each cluster will host a single FAD.

The government has also announced it will commit to establishing a native fish hatchery at Shepparton if it is re-elected next month.

The government said the $7 million move would help cut the cost of buying in about 4.0 million fish a year from interstate suppliers to supplement about 1.7 million fish farmed locally at Snobs Creek.

More than 830,000 Victorians enjoy recreational fishing and the industry employs more than 16,000 Victorians, with many based in regional areas, the government said.

The state goes to the polls on November 24.