The Department of Environment Land Water and Planning (DELWP) has reported a seal is harassing people at the Moyne River boat ramp in Port Fairy.

Acting manager resource protection and management, Ian Westhorpe, warned people to keep their distance from the seal and asked them not to feed it.

"We have had a number of reports of the seal aggressively taking fish from anglers around the fish cleaning facility at Port Fairy,” Mr Westhorpe sad.

“There have also been reports of people being chased and at least one injury where an angler tripped over a boat trailer in his haste to retreat.

"The same large adult Australian Fur Seal has been resident at the Port Fairy boat ramp for several months and regularly feeds on discarded fish carcasses thrown into the water by anglers at the cleaning station.

“The seal involved recently suffered an injury from what appears to be a boat propeller. The seal is not seriously injured and the wounds have almost healed, but the injuries are likely to have occurred because the seal has learnt to associate people and boats with food.

"Unfortunately feeding seals encourages them to expect handouts from people and they quickly become habituated and lose any fear of humans. This puts them at risk of being struck by moving vessels.”

He said it was unusual for seals to bite humans but encouraged people to keep their distance.