PARK WATCH Article March 2026 |

Severe government cuts are putting our marine habitats at risk, say Shannon Hurley, Mark Rodrigue and Chris Smyth

Victoria’s busiest marine waterways and protected areas are now being asked to fend for themselves. For those working in marine management, the warning signs are too familiar and increasingly hard to ignore.

Shannon Hurley, Nature Conservation Campaigner with VNPA, sees the consequences of recent government decisions already being felt on the water. After the state government pushed ahead with cuts that removed more than half of frontline fisheries officers in Port Phillip and Western Port bays, large stretches of our most heavily used and most loved waters are left with far fewer guardians looking out for them.

Nature groups, recreational fishers and industry bodies all raised the same concern at the time: fewer officers on the water means fewer checks, weaker deterrence, and more opportunity for illegal fishing to slip through the cracks – particularly in marine protected areas that rely on active enforcement to maintain protection.

The recent cuts further weaken an already overstretched compliance system. With fewer fisheries officers on the water, the rules become easier to ignore and more tempting to test.

When enforcement does occur, it sheds light on the scale of the problem. Just last month, two men were caught at Mt Eliza with 147 abalone – 144 of them undersized. For context, the daily bag limit is just five per person! The uncomfortable question is how many similar cases fly under the radar.

While community members are increasingly stepping in to report illegal activity, they cannot – and should not – be expected to take on the role that should be carried out by trained enforcement officers. It’s a risky place to be for the health of our bays, and for the communities that depend on them.

Recovery and risk at Barwon Bluff

One of the clearest examples is playing out at Barwon Bluff Marine Sanctuary, where locals have been watching both recovery and risk unfold side by side. Mark Rodrigue, a member of Friends of the Bluff, has spent years observing changes in this small but ecologically important sanctuary.

Community members at Barwon Bluff, and at several other marine sanctuaries, have observed encouraging signs of recovery after only a few years of protection. Rock lobsters have been recorded in locations where they were previously absent, in some cases within metres of the shoreline at low tide.

Southern Rock Lobsters (Jasus edwardsii), play a critical role on Victoria’s rocky reefs as both keystone predators and scavengers. Healthy lobster populations regulate herbivorous grazers such as sea urchins, maintaining the balance of reef habitats. Large lobsters are even capable of preying on Black-spined Sea Urchins, which are causing significant damage to kelp forests across south-eastern Australia.

Since Victoria established its no-take network of 13 marine national parks and 11 marine sanctuaries over 20 years ago, research has shown clear benefits to nature, including more and larger rock lobsters inside protected areas like Point Addis, Merri, Discovery Bay, and Wilsons Promontory, than in nearby unprotected sites.

However, this success also brings risk. Despite clear signage and spatial information readily available through the Victorian Fishing Guide app, community members have repeatedly witnessed lobsters being illegally taken from protected areas. While these incidents have been reported, enforcement responses have often been limited. In small sanctuaries, even the loss of a few large lobsters can quickly undo years of recovery.

Pattern across the network

What’s happening at Barwon Bluff isn’t isolated. Similar reports of illegal recreational fishing are emerging from Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary near Beaumaris, and Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park.

No doubt we’ll receive more reports of illegal fishing from protected areas across Victoria while these draconian cuts remain.

Adding to these challenges, management responsibility for seven marine protected areas along the Great Ocean Road, from Torquay to Warrnambool, has shifted to the recently established Great Ocean Road Coast and Parks Authority (GORCAPA). These include Point Addis and Twelve Apostles marine national parks, and five marine sanctuaries: Point Danger, Eagle Rock, Marengo, The Arches and Merri.

While the transition to GORCAPA continues, there is little clarity on future management of these marine protected areas. Key questions remain about long-term research, compliance and enforcement, and how protection benefits will be maintained.

Without clear commitments and effective on-water enforcement, Victoria’s ‘national parks for the sea’, risk being undermined, leaving globally significant habitats vulnerable to illegal poaching and degradation.

Declining commitment to nature

For former VNPA marine campaigner Chris Smyth, these local reports point to a much bigger problem. Despite marine national parks and sanctuaries being established with overwhelming community support and a bipartisan parliamentary vote, political support for the network has waned.

In 2014 both Labor and Liberals announced a moratorium on the establishment of any new marine national parks and sanctuaries.

Are the cuts a backdoor to undermining the network, without the need for the messy political process and community outrage that would come with any attempt to downgrade its high-level protection?

A pattern is clearly emerging of a declining commitment to protect nature. These cuts are coupled with the government’s recent announcement that it would not establish any more land-based national parks, and the removal of both the Victorian Environment Assessment Council and the Victorian Marine and Coastal Council.

Under the Silver Review, the government plans to merge Fisheries and Game Management into a new Outdoor Regulation body to cut costs. With fisheries enforcement already gutted and marine park compliance stretched thin, it’s unclear whether this will strengthen oversight or simply widen the growing enforcement gap.

It’s time for the government to reverse the cuts, and the major parties to renew their commitments to marine conservation. They need to support adequate management, strong compliance, and expansion of the marine national parks and sanctuaries network.

Shannon Hurley (Nature Conservation Campaigner), Mark Rodrigue (Friends of the Bluff) and Chris Smyth (former VNPA marine campaigner)