The Money fish

Winter in Corner Inlet, Welshpool, Victoria and local commercial fishermen are angry with environmentalists and the Victorian Government who are intent on setting up marine national parks along the Victorian coastline to boost fishing stocks and restrict professional net fishing. Angst also exists between the commercial fishermen and those who practise recreational fishing. For Joe Pizzone, who has given up 26 years of shark fishing in Bass Strait for a new life as an inlet fisherman, owning his own boat and spending more time with his family, the threat of marine parks to his livelihood becomes the new challenge in his life. The documentary follows Joe as he goes about his daily life as a professional fisherman, revealing the harsh conditions, the long hours and the constant battle with the weather, the good days and the bad days and his absolute passion and determination to not just stand by and let bureaucracy and the “greenies” take over without a fight. His loyalty to the community and the local commercial fishing families sees Joe confronting the Environment Conservation Council head-on and taking a pro-active stance in defending the local community’s right to fish and earn a living. This is an interesting film in that it attempts to present all sides of such a vexatious issue, from the commercial fishermen to the proponents of recreational fishing, the Government and the environmentalists. NB: Warning contains some strong language.