ANIMAL rescuers are calling on the City of Ballarat to ban fishing at Lake Wendouree, Victoria, claiming the recreational activity is putting wildlife in danger.
VRFish, the peak body for fishing in Victoria, says the claims, aired in the Channel 9 news report above, are “ridiculous”.
“Clearly they want kids to stay glued to their iPads and hang around shopping centres rather than engaging in a healthy family-friendly activity that connects them with the outdoors and contributes economic benefits to many local businesses.
“Worse still it misrepresents recreational fishers as people that don’t care about their waterways which is so far from the truth. Fishing is a cherished tradition at the Lake since the late 1800’s and many thousands of fishers have done the right thing and clean up after themselves and continue to do so.
“Punishing all for the actions of a few is not the way to solve these issues. As your fishing peak body, VRFish has put a call into the City of Ballarat and the good news we will be working together to have fishing line disposal bins installed around the lake and further initiatives to promote responsible fishing including signage.”
