THERE are fears the south-west’s multi-million dollar recreational fishing industry is at risk due to a federal government proposal to reduce the daily allowable southern bluefin tuna take to one per day for anglers.
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Port Fairy’s Salty Dog Fishing Charters operator Dan Hoey said he believed the proposal to halve the daily take would have a negative affect on his business.
“People are going to think twice about travelling down here because of the amount of produce they can take,” he said. “It’s a lot of effort for not much return.”
Red Hot Fishing Charters operator Simon Rinaldi said he was extremely concerned about the proposal.
“If they drop it down to one per person we may as well fold up our business here in Portland,” Mr Rinaldi said.
Portland Bait and Tackle owner John Johnstone said the change would be a huge blow to the south-west’s fishing industry.
“We’re all fairly worried down here in Portland,” he said. “Southern bluefin tuna brings in approximately $9 to $12 million to Portland each year.”
Mr Johnstone said he believed the decision was being made without any credible science. “People need to act on this fairly quickly because the decision is going to be made fairly quickly,” he said.
Recreational fisherman John Willis said he didn’t think the proposal was fair.
"It's an absolute kick in the ass to recreational fishermen," Mr Willis said.
"It's absolutely disgusting that the commercial catch be allowed a 500 tonne per year increase in their allowable take, and then demand we reduce our recreational bag limit. Recreational fishermen are sick to death of being told southern bluefin tuna is a diminished species."
The Standard contacted Assistant Water Minister Anne Ruston but did not receive a response at the time of going to print.
