A group of swimmers cancelled their usual Saturday morning bay swim last weekend because of concerns the sea predators may be lurking.

They will re-evaluate the risk this Saturday depending on recent tuna fishing activity.

Large numbers of visiting boat crews have flocked to the bay in the last few weeks as schools of the prized southern bluefin tuna came closer to shore than usual.

A recreational fisherman netted a monster tuna about 12 kilometres from the coast of Portland yesterday. It weighed a whopping 122 kilograms. To read more go to

It was also reported on 3AW today. Click below to watch the video.

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A problem faced by fishing crews is that when they get back to the Warrnambool boat ramp the closest rubbish bin is about 50 metres away from the fish cleaning tables. Guts and discarded body parts of filleted fish are usually thrown into the water, much to the delight of stingrays and seals.

Cr Rob Askew raised the alarm at Monday night’s Warrnambool City Council meeting when he warned the reputation of having on of Victoria’s safest beaches was at stake.

“The last time we had a serious shark problem was in 1956,” he said.

“That was a long time ago and we don’t want it to happen again.

“Tuna fishermen are coming, but we haven’t got necessary facilities to collect waste which gets dumped into the sea.

“This creates a potential issue of sharks being drawn into the bay.

“We need to do whatever is required to address the issue if we want to retain our safety reputation.”

His call was backed by Cr Jennifer Lowe who said she had received complaints.

“Just give them another bin, it’s not that hard,” she said.

Swimmer Baylee Rogers, who has done the training swim for about seven years, said last Saturday’s outing was cancelled after rumours a shark had been caught off the breakwater recently.

“We also heard mako sharks had been spotted hanging around tuna fishermen at sea,” he said.

“It’s the close proximity of sharks when the tuna are running that puts us off.”

Long-time offshore fisherman Neville Dance supported Cr Askew’s call for waste bins at the cleaning tables.

“Rubbish bins are provided at the Portland and Port Fairy ramps, but not at Warrnambool,” he said.

“Game fishermen generally don’t berley near swimming areas, but the Warrnambool ramp is a classic example where offcuts create a berley trail.

“I’m confident the issue will be addressed under the proposed safer harbour upgrade, but in the meantime it could easily be fixed by the council putting in more bins.”

Another local fisherman Lucas Wilson said tuna heads and frames had been seen floating in the shallows last weekend.

Acting director of city infrastructure Glen Reddick said council officers were investigating how best to solve the problem.