Fisheries Victoria has added twelve new specially trained staff across the state to patrol Victorian waters, according to the latest media release by the Premier of Victoria.
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Peter Walsh, Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, said Fisheries Officers are the front-line defense protecting Victoria’s fisheries for future generations.
“The Victorian Coalition Government is committed to providing fair and sustainable recreational and commercial fishing opportunities in our state. These new Fisheries Officers will work to ensure regulations such as bag and size limits are adhered to, while educating the community and promoting fishing opportunities in Victoria.”
The fresh graduates from Fisheries Victoria’s intensive seven-week course will join patrol teams today and immediately begin on-the-job training.
Eight fisheries officers (including one senior officer) will be based in Apollo Bay, Portland, Tatura, Mallacoota and Geelong. Three other senior investigators and one intelligence officer will be based in Melbourne.
The Fisheries Officers went through a rigorous selection and training process and are set to patrol areas popular with snapper anglers and other fishing hot-spots over the remainder of the season.
“Fisheries Victoria Officers are on the front line. They have extensive powers of arrest, search and seizure and we need to ensure we have the right people to exercise those powers and to deal with difficult and potentially stressful situations,” Mr. Walsh said.
The Fisheries Officers’ graduation follows the conclusion of Operation Gillie which ran from October 5th to November 12th. The operation was a compliance operation targeted at recreational snapper anglers.
As part of Operation Gillie, Fisheries Officers conducted a total of 4,330 inspections and issued 126 warnings and 77 infringement notices.
“An additional seven briefs of evidence were prepared and a number of offenders will be charged on summons and their matters heard before the courts,” said Mr. Walsh.
Two recreational fishing boats were also seized along with a range of fishing equipment. This came about as a result of anglers exceeding the bag limit or concealing their excess catch.
“Most anglers do the right thing, but operations like Operation Gillie serve to protect our fisheries from the small minority who do not,” concludes Mr. Walsh.
