News

Budget cuts are behind a decision by the Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) in Australia to axe up to 37 jobs, including science, management and fisheries officer positions.

According to a report in The AGE newspaper, VFA is also planning to close four bayside stations at Cowes, Altona North, Mornington and Braeside.

The current 73 Fisheries Officer positions throughout the state will be replaced with 36 Fisheries Engagement Officer positions, a 50 per cent reduction, with those remaining mainly focused on community engagement.

A spokesperson for the VFA told Australia’s Fishing World magazine said: “Going forward we will be more focused on education and engaging the community with fishing, and some workforce changes have been proposed to reflect this.”

“Our workforce will focus on keeping compliance levels high, and on major fishing crime, while working closely with the community to provide them the education and resources they need to fish responsibly.

“We’re confident our new operating model means fishing in Victoria will be as good into the future as it is today.”

“We are consulting with employees and the union on workforce changes and will provide all staff with the support they need through this period.”

The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) CPSU called on the Victorian Government to put a stop to this restructure in light of the impacts on Victoria, the VFA workforce and the inducement it will offer to organised crime in waterways.

“This proposal raises huge safety concerns for our members who will be forced to work 1up in situations that can become unsafe very quickly,” said a CPSU statement.

“We are very concerned for the worker safety in this proposed environment. We believe that the impacts of the proposal will have a significant impact on the sustainability of the fisheries environment.”