Fishing charter fined for breaching shipwreck zone

THE state government has slapped a commercial fishing charter operator with almost $2,000 in fines for anchoring and fishing near a protected shipwreck off the coast of the Bellarine Peninsula.

The SS City of Launceston is one of Victoria’s most significant shipwrecks. Serving as the original ferry between Melbourne and Tasmania, it is one of the most intact iron steamship wrecks of its age in Australian waters.

At about 9pm on November 19, 1865, the incoming SS Penola struck and ran down City of Launceston, which began to sink almost immediately.

The discovery and reporting of the wreck off Indented Head and subsequent lobbying of the state government led to the proclamation of the Victorian Historic Shipwrecks Act 1981.

Both state and federal legislation provide for Protected Zones around significant or fragile historic shipwrecks.

Protected shipwrecks are marked on navigational charts and it is the responsibility of boat operators to know where the zones are located.

Four of the six Protected Zones in Port Phillip Bay – Clarence, William Salthouse, Joanna and Will O’ The Wisp – are near the Bellarine Peninsula’s eastern end, with SS City of Launceston closer to the bay’s centre.

Under the Heritage Act 2017, it is an offence to enter, moor, fish, dive, or use certain equipment within a Protected Zone.

Heritage Victoria issued the fine on January 25. Executive director Steven Avery said the act had strengthened compliance and enforcement tools to reduce the likelihood of impacts to shipwrecks in Protected Zones.

“Fines under the new regulations are steep. The recent penalty was almost $2,000, and if prosecuted in court would be almost $25,000.

“Of the 600 historic shipwrecks in Victoria, only nine are in Protected Zones and are off limits. People are free to access any of our other shipwrecks at any time, so long as they don’t damage or disturb the wrecks or remove artefacts.

“The J-Class submarines, ex-HMAS Canberra, Loch Ard and Ozone are all popular wrecks to visit.”