Rye pier shut after anglers and tourists ignore social distancing measures over long weekend
Tourists and anglers have crammed on to a popular Mornington Peninsula pier to see a bizarre spectacle involving thousands of giant crabs, forcing authorities to close it down as people blatantly ignored social distancing restrictions.
South East
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Authorities have been forced to close a popular Mornington Peninsula pier after hundreds of tourists and anglers crammed onto the structure, blatantly ignoring coronavirus restrictions.
Police announced the decision to close Rye pier about 8pm on Sunday after “a disappointing amount of people failing to observe social distancing measures”.
They warned visitors would be moved on and that more attractions would be closed in the region if people continued to flout the rules.
Furious beachgoers took to social media to vent their frustration about the closure, which came less than 24 hours after tens of thousands of people joined the Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne’s CBD.
“All credibility in isolation restrictions is lost after the protest being allowed without repercussions yesterday,” June Ralph posted.
“What about the protesters? Apparently there was no pandemic on Saturday,” Belle van Unen posted.
Mornington Peninsula mayor Sam Hearn said the decision was made in the interests of public health and safety.
“It’s a circuit breaker,” Cr Hearn said.
“The pier will likely be closed for days, not weeks.”
Cr Hearn said the council welcomed visitors to the region and was keen to see more people “out and about” as restrictions eased.
“Of course we want people to be mindful of social distancing and encourage them to take precautions to keep themselves and others safe,” he said.
“But we have lost $2 billion over the past few months and our businesses need to be able to trade again.”
The Mornington Peninsula was one of five areas to be cleared of the virus over the weekend.
Many of those visiting Rye were there to see the world’s largest known annual spider crab migration.
The annual phenomenon involves thousands of giant orange crabs gathering in the shallows around Rye pier and has become an international drawcard for the region.
At Rye Pier today dozens of divers were there to see the crabs, including Ivanhoe man Prashun Thipaiah.
Mr Thipaiah and his group of about ten divers had to walk up to 1km through the water to the dive site instead of entering via the pier.
Despite the inconvenience Mr Thipaiah was pleased the pier was closed.
“There were a lot less crabs here than in previous years,” Mr Thipaiah said.
“The dive site was covered with chicken pieces and crab pots. Clearly people are coming here to fish the crabs.”
There is a bag limit of 30 on spider crabs but Rye resident Mechelle Cheers said more should be done to protect the shellfish.
“Only a small cohort of the overall (crab) population come to moult near hard structures,” she said.
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“This makes it a privilege for us to see it, not a right to plunder a creature when it is most vulnerable.”
Officers from the Victorian Fisheries Authority were at the pier over the weekend checking catches.
A man who did not wish to be named said he had seen people at the pier with large bags full of crabs and that at least two people were issued with fines for exceeding the catch limit.
A VFA spokesman said information about fines issued over the long weekend was not available.
Police would not reveal if any lockdown fines were issued at Rye or comment further about the closure.
“It was a Parks Victoria decision,” a police spokeswoman said.
Parks Victoria has been contacted.