Lorne Fishing Cooperative

Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority, are responsible for delivering the Point Grey Redevelopment project. This involves the future of the Lorne Fishing Cooperative building. I would like to share some information about the Co-op that the Lorne Historical Society has in its collection.

The Coop building has undergone many changes over the years. The first photo shows the building in 1955 when it was a Fish Freezing Works. The second photo taken, thirty years later in 1985, shows the Pier Restaurant & Coffee Terrace, Lorne Fisheries Office and the Fish shop. The third photo taken in 2025, shows current usage by Lorne Pier Art Bazaar, Lorne Historical Society Fishy Tales exhibition and the storage for Lorne Aquatic & Angling Club. The Permits for these uses expire at the end of April 2025.

 

The Lorne fishermen in 1948 formed the Lorne Fishermen’s Cooperative. The State Government provided a seeding loan, with the fisherman obtaining shares. T he seed funding became a grant.

All fish sold came through the office, with none sold from the pier. A quota of one and a half ton of cleaned fish per day for every two men was applied. Contracts were made to supply fish to Kraft (Ballarat) and Greens (Eden) canneries.

The first president was Cyril Norton, with secretary, Gordon Schram and manager Lindsay Cannon.

In 1949 the Coop building was completed. It consisted of a fish filleting and packing area, a snap freezer with eight-ton capacity, a smaller room for holding bait, and a small office. In the early 1950’s the industry peaked, with around 25 boats on the pier. All fishermen caught barracouta. For those who only caught couta, they would work ashore to supplement their income. Several fishermen did well catching crayfish and in these early days, when no couta was about, some fishermen used long lines to catch gummy shark and snapper. The long lines were set at daylight and left for two to three hours and then retrieved.

 

The barracouta were caught using shiny ‘jigs’, no bait attached. When fish started to bite, the boat would circle up and throw out whitebait to keep the fish coming. Fish were ‘unhooked’ on a hooking board into the well of the boat. Before hooking boards were used, the fish were “winged”; each fish caught under the fisherman’s arm and unhooked into the boat well.

After returning to the pier, fish were unloaded and transferred to a wooden trolley which was pushed along a railway line to the Co-op to be cleaned and prepared for market. The rail line still runs along the front of the Co-op building.

In 1972, the then secretary of the Co-op, Gordon Bannister, wrote in an application for funding to the Commonwealth Development Bank that Lorne had 26 fishermen and that the industry supported 30 families. The application was unsuccessful, but not to be deterred they applied to the Rural Finance and Settlement Commission and in July of 1973 the commission offered a loan of $70,000 to upgrade the facilities.

Six years later, in a letter written by John Barker on behalf of the members, to the Rural Finance Commission, he asked for a restructure of the Cooperative shareholding. He noted that only 12 fishermen remained in Lorne and that the decline in numbers was likely to continue.

 

In 1974 the new processing plant and retail store were finally added, allowing for an increase in the efficiency of the processing and an improvement in the quality of fish supplied. The future looked good for the Co-op, but the sudden absence of the barracouta and the decline in the number of families fishing, left Lorne as basically a crayfish port. The Co-op had given great service to the fishermen in Lorne. Managers of the Co-op included: Ian Hussan, Tom MacIndoe, Oscar Schram, Eddie Ridgeway, Fred Tully, Bonnie Muir and Henry Love. The last three boats left on the pier were owned and operated by Malcolm Campbell, Gary Norton and Scott Stewart. The pier that the boats sat on, along with the cranes, was poorly maintained by the then Port authority and was condemned in 2003 and a new pier was opened in 2007.

Compiled by Linton Ferguson for the Lorne Historical Society

This article was made possible by accessing various sources including:
• Lorne Historical Society collections
• www.lornehistoricalsociety.org.au

John Agar

Feature Writer

 

A word from the chairman

Well it looks like summer is finally slipping away, but this year we have been blessed with wonderful “summer” weather for five months from December to April, surely the best (and longest) summer we have had in years! To see our beach crowded late in April is a wonderful sight, but looking at the forecast, by the time you are reading this the weather may have changed and our minds will be turning to woolly jumpers, hearty food and open fires.
*****
How lucky were we with Easter! On Thursday, the long weekend kicked off with the opening of the 2025 Lorne Photographic Exhibition at Community Connect. The exhibition includes the works of talented local amateur photographers and is well worth a look at Community Connect until April 28. Good Friday saw competitive football and netball at Stribling Reserve for the first time on this day. Our neighbours from Apollo Bay came to visit and, despite a competitive first half in the football seniors, the Dolphins prevailed with an 8 goals to zero second half in front of a huge crowd. In netball, all our senior teams had strong wins. On Saturday morning the foreshore market came alive, giving a much-appreciated boost to our school’s coffers. Stribling Reserve was the centre of the action again on Saturday hosting reigning premiers, Leopold and finalists, St Joseph’s from the Geelong Football Netball League. On Sunday morning there were large attendances at church services, and then the Men’s Shed came out to play with their model boats at the Swing Bridge. Their self-constructed remote-control yachts put on an impressive display of sailing and navigation skills. Congratulations to David Lawler, a worthy winner. Meanwhile at the other end of town, there was a well-attended fishing competition and roast lunch at the Aquatic Club, followed later in the day by Ronny Hollmer and his band who had the Aquatic Club thumping with some old-favourite musical numbers. Nobody wanted to go home, not even the band. How good is a long weekend in Lorne!
*****
As we head towards the polling booth for the Federal election, we should ask ourselves what do we want to be as a country, who are we, and what do we stand for? It is easy to get caught up in numbers, projects, taxes and promises, and we have noisy minorities who would have us believe we are mad or evil to hold views that differ from theirs. The country I love is one founded on principle, respect, tolerance, compassion and sound decision-making. May that never change.
When you cast your vote on or before May 3, think carefully. As the political landscape changes, we can no longer say “my vote will not make any difference”. The reason we and our fellow voters have a vote is to take this country forward for ourselves, for those who suffer disadvantage and generations to come. Please use your vote wisely.
As the world mourns the passing of our Holy Father Pope Francis, we remember a champion of inclusion, compassion, healing and reformation, a leader for our time. Rest in Peace.

Cheers

John

Lorne Ward Events Calendar

April

18-28 – 2025 Photographic Exhibition Routine and Ritual. Info: lornecommunityconnect.com.au

25 – Anzac Day Twilight Football & Netball.  Lorne FNC V Sout Colac FNC at Stribling Reserve

May

4 – LAAC Winter Comp No 1. lines down after 6am, weigh in at the Lorne Aquatic and Angling Club at 12:30 followed by BBQ lunch.

17-18 – Great Ocean Road Running Festival, Running, music, wellness, adventure.

June

7 – Lorne Market, 9am-3pm www.lornemarkets.com/

8 – Lorne Aquatic & Angling Club – Major Fishing Competition No 4, Weigh cut off 12.30pm. Free roast lunch for competitors, $10 non-fishing members.