Massive scallop fishery discovered off Lake Entrance coast in Victoria, hopes for reviving export market

Lakes Entrance scallops will be back on the menu after a massive new scallop fishery was opened up off the coast of Lakes Entrance in Victoria’s east.

The scallop beds totalling 7,876 tonnes in size were discovered during a survey of a previously unfished area near the Tarwhine oil and gas fields off the east Gippsland coast.

The lucrative find means commercial fishers can harvest seven times more scallops than usual.

The Victorian Government has lifted the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) by a staggering 86 per cent, from 135 tonnes to 979 tonnes.

Fishing and Boating Minister Melissa Horne said only 12 per cent of the scallops from the new fishery would be harvested, leaving smaller ones to spawn.

“This is a huge discovery, I’ve gotta…