Victorian rock lobster industry ‘on its knees’ in ongoing China trade dispute

When rock lobster fisherman Simon Nash winches his boat into the water before dawn he knows he might not make any money from his long day of work.

It’s not because of the vagaries of fishing — the lobsters around his home at Port Campbell, near Victoria’s famous Twelve Apostles, are just as likely or not to wander into one of his 84 pots as ever.

The uncertainty comes from a dispute with Australia’s largest trading partner that he has no control over.

When the Chinese…