A FIGHT is underway in Port Phillip Bay concerning the bay’s annual scallop quota, which could be lifted from 12 tonnes to 750 tonnes per year according to a report in The Australian.
The commercial scallop quota was set at 12 tonnes in 2013 and defined as a “new fishery” with the need to explore commercial viability.
The quota was then increased to 147 tonnes for 2015 based on the discovery of further deposits in various locations within the bay, and has been set by Victorian Fisheries at 250 tonnes for 2016.
Port Phillip Bay Scallops, the company that holds the sole licence, and the company behind the push towards an increased quota, purchased the “boutique fishery” licence for $180,000. It is set however, to increase the scale of operations with the goal of eventually exporting to lucrative overseas markets with an estimated annual turnover of $13m, which will see a fleet of boats working the beds.
Recreational fishermen are unhappy about the scale of operations and say it is a return to the industrial scale scallop harvest seen in the past, that was eventually banned, and could damage the bay’s recreational scallop fishery, and booming recreational snapper fishery.
David Kramer, chief executive of the Future Fish Foundation, believes that rec fishos have been conned.
“We didn’t know they had given them a licence with an ability to do their own assessment and adjust the cap. They have basically given them a licence to do what they want,” Kramer told The Australian.
Belinda Wilson, chief executive of Port Phillip Bay Scallops, defended the move to increase the quota and highlighted that her company had assumed all the risk in developing a new fishery.
“This is a new model fishery. Not only is this a wild catch, hand-dive fishery close to Melbourne, it has been modelled on best practices,” Wilson told The Australian.
Ms Wilson also producted a letter from celebrity chef Neil Perry, whose Rockpool group of restaurants serve the scallops.
“It’s quite simple — without a supply of fresh quality seafood, Melbourne’s reputation as a global gourmet institution will suffer,” Perry wrote in the letter.
