Following a series of opera house net platypus drownings last year, Melbourne Water Waterwatch coordinated a ‘Trade in your Traps: Platypus-Friendly Fishing’ event on February 15th in Yarra Junction. Partnering with Yarra Ranges Council, Yarra River Keepers, FishCare Victoria, EnviroDNA and Upper Yarra Landcare, the event educated the local community on the dangers of illegal opera house nets for platypus, wildlife-friendly fishing practices and platypus biology!
To drive behaviour change within the community, attendees brought along their opera house nets to trade for new open top pyramid nets. Opera house nets are banned from Victorian public and private waters as air-breathing animals, like platypus, can become trapped in these nets and drown. In comparison, Open-top nets allow platypus to escape safely and are great at catching yabbies! 33 opera house nets were traded in at the event meaning 33 fewer potential platypus death traps that will never make into Victorian waterways!
