Thanks to your support of this issue, a meeting was held on Tuesday 27 September. The Martha Cove Owners Corporation have released a Community Bulletin with the outcomes of this meeting. Please see its content below.

Owners Corporation No. 1 PS435310J Committee Bulletin - September 2022

NO FISHING IN MARTHA COVE MARINA AND ATTACHED GROYNE

On Tuesday 27th September 2022 a meeting was held to discuss and develop a response to address the increased numbers of fishers operating illegally within Martha Cove marina and on the groyne was attended by:
• Tony Clarke, Graham Sprigg, Mike Wilton, Stuart Cox and Ron Morgan representing Martha Cove Owners and Owners Corporation
• Bill Paterson representing Coastguard
• Andrew Martin representing Safety Beach Sailing Club
• David Snooks representing Snooks Catering
• Georgia Symmons organizer of the No Fishing petition which has over 1000 signatories
https://www.change.org/SaveMarthaCove
• Chub Paizs and Fiona Blain-Bartle representing Cambridge Management Services
• Ken Finley being the first OC Manager at Martha Cove (the Historian)
• Rosemary Clarke Owner and past Mornington Peninsula Shire Councillor

The fish ladder and waterways of Martha Cove Marina are intended as a sanctuary for breeding of fish and marine life with them eventually migration into Port Phillip Bay. Authorities and developers supported this objective by the establishment of the Environment Maintenance Plan and numerous Section 173 Agreements that call for the OC1 to prohibit fishing. The failure to provide any authority to enforce those rules has resulted in the waterways become a bountiful (and easy) spot to fish. One Hundred (100) people fishing at any one time, with fish being caught every 30 seconds is not unusual.

The problems caused by the fishing are readily identified but the associated flow on effects are not. In discussing the issue, the following were identified as needing urgent attention and support from the authorities in order to ensure the general publics continued enjoyment of the area.

• Waste and rubbish such as hooks and baits dangerous to everyone, especially children and pets.
• Loss of business due to designated parking spaces being occupied by vehicles belonging to fishers and thereby preventing customer parking. Also the enjoyment of Tassells Cove (dog-friendly beach) is being impacted as cars are parking all day in the gravel carpark and people can’t get to use the beach.
• Cancellation of local community events due to lack of accessibility.
• Increased chance of injury to persons and pets resulting from fishers ignoring passing pedestrian traffic. 
• Altercations between fishers and vessels entering and exiting the designated boating channels caused by fishers casting lines in front of vessels.
• Coastguard rescue missions being hampered by the intrusion of fishing lines into the boating channel.
• Fishing lines and hooks being tangled with boat propellors and yacht keels which could lead to extensive and costly damage to vessels using the waterway in accordance with the intended use of the boating channel and what it was created for.

All participants agreed that following actions are to be taken:

1. Update owners and interested community of the meeting and the outcomes as explained in this Bulletin below.
2. Owners Corporation to write to Council outlining the issues including the No Fishing Petition, letters from Safety Beach Sailing Club, and Coastguard in time for the Council meeting scheduled for the 18th October 2022.
3. Contact to be made with the 3 Councillors of the Seawinds Ward to make them aware of the problem and the public support via the petition to seek their support to ban this illegal fishing.
4. Contact the 3 local candidates who have declared their interest in running for the Victorian state elections with the same message.

We are also encouraging residents to use the Council’s Snap Send Solve app to report anything that needs fixing for example, litter and evidence of defecating on either side of the mouth of the marina including Tassell’s Cove and the foreshore of the Sailing Club. The app can be downloaded using the links below:

iOS device - https://apps.apple.com/au/app/snap-send-solve/id377854149?ign-mpt=uo%3D4

Android device - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.outware.snapsendsolve