NEWS DESK
Claws out in spider crab war of words Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au THE stakes in the war-of-words over the catching of giant spider crabs at Rye and Blairgowrie took a strong political turn last week. In a full page advertisement in The News the Victorian Recreational Fishing peak body VRFish slammed those opposed to catching the crabs during their annual moult as an “attack by a loose association of conservation, NIMBY, and self-interested water user groups in a campaign coordinated by an avowed anti-recreational fishing group”. It even posed the inflammatory headline: “Is a ban on snapper fishing next?” VRFish took aim at Mornington Peninsula Shire, which wrote to Fishing and Boating Minister Melissa Horne in June seeking a ban on catching the crabs during their annual May-July moult off Rye and Blairgowrie. Deputy mayor Cr Sarah Race said at the time: “This is a phenomenon that should be celebrated, not decimated.” (“Spider crabs stay on the menu” The News 31/5/21). Copies of the council’s request were forwarded to Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio, and to peninsula MPs. The council pleaded for a reduced bag limit, education campaigns with interpretive signage “aimed at all coastal users” and tabled plans for a winter ‘closed season’ to secure the sustainability of the event. In October
Welcome back: Eco-warrior Josie Jones floats above a carpet of giant spider crabs. Picture: Josie Jones
last year the Victorian Fisheries Authority reduced catch limits from 30 to 15 crabs. The mayor Cr Despi O’Connor said the community had “deep concerns about the increased level of human interference with the annual spider crab moulting event”. “This amazing, world-renowned
spectacle is only able to be witnessed from shore at Rye and Blairgowrie and we’ve asked for a ‘no-take’ season for spider crabs to protect this unique phenomenon,” she said. “This is entirely consistent with the Victorian Marine and Coastal Act 2018 and the Marine and Coastal Policy 2020, which prioritise protect-
ing the marine environment from threats of any sort. The community has told us they love witnessing this amazing spectacle, but if the level of human interference we’ve seen in recent years continues, the future of this species and ecosystem is at risk. “This is not about being antifishing. It’s about sustainability and the right of the majority of locals and visitors to simply witness and enjoy this amazing annual event.” But VRFish was unmoved: “That Mornington Peninsula Shire Council is opposing a form of recreational fishing is not surprising as we consider this council the worst supporter of resident and tourist recreational fishers and boaters of any local government in the state,” the statement said. It added that the “localised, shortlived, annual fishery is a legal and beneficial outdoor activity” done by a “small, but important, recreational fisher community”. Also, that the crabbing “does not pose a sustainability or biomass threat and we support the scientific studies and surveys currently underway”. VRFish said the “clearly xenophobic and ignorant minority against the crab fishery [who assert] that it holds no ‘cultural significance’ for participants, should serve to discredit these groups. Recreational fishers are clearly practising ‘crab culture’ common in Chinese cuisine for 300 years.” It said examples of “deeper connection, or cultural heritage” in sustainable fishing among immigrant
families included blue sea mussell gathering by Italians at Brighton Beach; calamari fishing from bay piers by Greeks, and skipjack tailor fishing by Vietnamese at Newport power station. But those opposed say the 300-year-old Chinese crab culture was not carried out in Australia, and that mussels, skipjack and squid are not necessarily taken when the animals are at their most vulnerable. VRFish said: “Despite deliberately misleading assertions by the group opposed, the Giant Spider Crab Recreational Fisher Survey shows recreational fishers value the spider crab catch, consume the crab and comply with current fisheries regulations.” VRFish said there was little safety risk posed by sharks attracted by the crab fishers but decried the “wanton vandalism” on crabbers’ equipment and “threats of violence” at Rye and Blairgowrie piers. The body said it would ask the state government to “increase protection” for crabbers “using exclusion powers under the Marine Safety Act 2010”. Rye Community Group Alliance’s president Mechelle Cheers said reading the “innuendos, self-justification and other nonsense” expressed in the VRFish statement made her “wonder about the ethics of this non-Mornington Peninsula-based fishing lobby group”. “The inflammatory headline trying to incite traditional fishers says it all. A quick ask around confirmed there is no “avowed anti-recreational fishing group” on the southern end of the peninsula,” Ms Cheers said.
Submarine’s list poses hazards Stephen Taylor steve@mpnews.com.au
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Southern Peninsula News
30 June 2021
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AN emergency direction issued by Maritime Safety Victoria last week warned that HMAS Otama was at “risk of capsizing or possibly sinking imminently”. The Oberon class submarine, moored 800 metres north of Crib Point refinery jetty, is listing significantly to starboard. An exclusion zone prohibits “non-authorised personnel” from going within 200 metres of the stricken vessel. A source told The News the submarine has suffered a “catastrophic failure of the ballast tank on the starboard side and is taking water”. It is believed the tank rupture is due to rust and wear exacerbated by wild weather earlier in June. Contractors were last week attaching air bags to stabilise the vessel moored in waters managed by Parks Victoria. Buoys were being used to keep boats well clear. “We have spoken with the owner of the vessel as well as key stakeholders to discuss issues surrounding the vessel and ways it could be stabilised in its current location,” Parks Victoria regional director marine and maritime, Jo Richards said. “The stabilisation may include attaching inflatable fenders which could allow the Western Port Oberon Association to work through options for the vessel’s future in light of its obvious deterioration.” Boaters also reported an oil spill around the vessel on Wednesday. Former Port of Hastings harbour master Captain Dick Cox OAM said there was no oil left on board when the Otama was moored in the bay in 2003. “All the oil was cleaned out prior to its arrival in Western Port with probably just some grease and lubricants [left] on board,” he said. “The worry is [the sub] sinking with 500 tonnes of lead-acid batteries on board. “It is not in the shipping channel, which is in Port of Hastings-controlled waters, but in the Parks Victoria-controlled waters.”
Listing to starboard: The ex-HMAS Otama is on a lean after wild weather. Picture: Supplied
Her Royal Highness Princess Anne commissioned HMAS Otama in 1978. It is said to be the last of the Oberon class submarines in existence. The Western Port Oberon Association has plans to display it as a tourist attraction. The $15 million project would involve establishing a maritime museum at Hastings based around the submarine. (“Top Liberals to steer sub project” The News 30/5/17). The association’s Max Bryant said discussions with Parks Victoria about salvaging the vessel had taken on a greater urgency since it started listing. “All of a sudden people are taking notice of it,” he said, adding that notional revenues of $80 million had been ‘lost’ over time in the stalled bid to make the sub a museum focal point. “We’ve got to fix it,” he said. “Once it is stable they can carry out repairs.” Parks Victoria said it was also working with the Port of Hastings Development Authority, Department of Transport and Victorian Regional Channels Authority about the “issues the vessel presents”.