Disposing of 50 tonnes of rotting fish has become an arduous task for the salvor responsible for the operation to retrieve Janet 1, the commercial fishing boat that came into strife in Eden more than a month ago.
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David Guillot, managing director of Polaris Marine said his company had been working tirelessly to finish the job, but the now toxic load on board the purse seiner had presented a much bigger challenge than the salvage itself.
"The fish have proven problematic to get rid of, it's taken a fair bit of effort to find a workable solution but we haven't given up," Mr Guillot said.
The salvor said the length of time for which the load of fish had been stuck on board had complicated the matter, having now become a hazard to work with and dispose of, with concerns from both Bega Valley Shire Council and the Environment Protection Agency about the high risks involved.
"In the meantime the stench is continuing, but we have a new plan, so hope it will go swimmingly now and all fish should be off the Janet by Monday, June 30," Mr Guillot said.
Speaking with ACM on Monday May 23, Mr Guillot helped answer another question that had piqued interest for those observing activity in the Port of Eden in recent weeks - a sighting of the Steve Irwin, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society's decommissioned flagship vessel.
Mr Guillot said a client of his owned the Steve Irwin and he had been tasked with tugging the 59-metre vessel from Williamstown (Melbourne) up to Brisbane.
"It was dead-in-the-water and had been sold to my client for a dollar... she had aspirations to turn it into a restaurant in Brisbane," he said.
The Steve Irwin had been moored at Williamstown since 2019, following being saved from being sold for scrap, and had been intended to be used as an event space and museum.
"The reason it stopped in Eden was that the Molly Grace which was towing it, was the only vessel capable of helping lift the Janet as it has a 30-tonne lifting gantry," Mr Guillot said.
"My tug was already committed at sea, so to save time I used the other tugboat and did a swap with the smaller one, to make sure there was no hazard to operations."
According to Mr Guillot, plans for the Steve Irwin also ran into some difficulty and the vessel had made it as far as Newcastle, where it is currently on a private mooring.
Built in 1975, the vessel formerly served as a Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency conservation enforcement patrol boat.
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Leah Szanto
Regional journalist covering the Far South Coast of NSW.
Regional journalist covering the Far South Coast of NSW.
