Sport
3 September, 2025
Wimmera Mallee fisher a VRFish honouree
Robert Loats' passion for recreational angling in the Wimmera Mallee has landed the keen local fisher a VRFish lifetime achievement award.
Loats, the current head of VRFish, was one of eight individuals honoured at the peak body's recent presentation ceremony.
"I joined VRFish as a regional fisher and delegate from Mid Northern Association of Angling Clubs in 1998," Loats said.
He was first appointed to the board of management in March 2000 now chairs the organisation.
"I originally joined VRFish to provide an important voice from regional Victoria from the Wimmera Mallee area and promote the ever-increasing recreational fishing aspirations of regional fishers," he said.
"Personally, at that time I had no aspirations to become the chair as my goal was to improve recreational fishing and access in Victoria and along the Murray River."
However, over time his involvement intensified, Loats being a key figure in:
- buying-out freshwater commercial fishers and having 28 water storages, lakes and wetlands returned to recreational fishing
- proposing a native fish restocking program with golden perch and yearling Murray cod, delivered in conjunction with Fisheries Victoria staff
- supporting the banning of opera-house nets for yabbies, introducing yabby catch limits and pushing for female yabbies with berries to be returned to the water
- having setlines banned
- implementing Murray cod slot limits and catch limits and having Rocklands Reservoir stocked with Murray cod
- achieving support for 12 recreational lakes to receive high recreational water security from water saved by piping the Wimmera Mallee open-channel system
- generating support for returning defined allocations of environmental water to the Wimmera and Glenelg rivers.
"I was ecstatic to see a proposal I raised to see a statewide approach in repairing fish habit using large trees, branches and root balls during road constructions implemented by VicRoads as offsets for woody fish habitat," Loats said.
He said people often referred to him now as "Woody" due to his "insistence on renaming 'woody debris' to 'woody habitat' and giving it a real fish habitat value".
He received the lifetime achievement award as part of VRFish's 30th anniversary celebrations.
The highest honour bestowed by VRFish, it was presented to Loats at an event attended by more than 80 guests by Member for Geelong Christine Couzens.
Awards were made to another seven volunteers (including postumously to two).