Police enforce Point Wilson no-go zone

Boaters and fishermen are being warned not to cross into waters around the Point Wilson jetty in Port Phillip Bay.

Police have warned that the waters around the Geelong jetty are off limits, with water police patrolling the exclusion zone.

Leading Senior Constable John Anderson said boat operators were banned from coming closer than 300 metres of the Australian Defence Force-owned jetty.

“This is not a suggestion but a rule,” he said. “We’re continually seeing people flout the exclusion zone rules.”

Leading Senior Constable Anderson said a patrol of the area the weekend before last resulted in 10 infringement notices being issued to vessel operators breaking the rules, all in a relatively short period of time.

“We realise that [fishermen] are just going where the fish are, but unfortunately we can’t enforce an exclusion zone for fish, only humans.”

He said there were plenty of other places to fish in the area and it was important for vessel operators to stay away from the area.

The minimum penalty for boat operators and fishermen found in the area is $303.

The site’s 2.7-kilometre-long steel and concrete jetty and wharf was used for loading and unloading of explosive ordnance until 2008 when the facility was found to be in poor structural condition and operations were suspended.