In the northern suburbs of Melbourne, nestled between the suburban houses and the factory district of Reservoir’s west, lies Edwardes Lake Park. Home to diverse wildlife, the parklands provide the local community with space to play and gather.

After colonisation, the land was owned by Thomas Dyer Edwardes, who eventually gifted a portion of his estate to the Preston City Council in 1914. Soon after, the neighbouring Edgars Creek was dammed, creating Edwardes Lake as it is now known. In its lifetime, the man-made lake has been a quarry, a council tip, and a popular spot for swimming, fishing, rowing, and water skiing. Swimming was banned in 1939 when pollution made it unsafe, and in the late nineties, fishing was banned for the same reasons.

Reservoir resident Carmen Lahiff-Jenkins has seen the park go from “trashy” to “magnificent”. She recalls the lack of biodiversity and the broken-down cars and thinks fondly of the community efforts to revive it to its current state with tree planting and other projects.

“When I first moved here, there was nowhere for people to go like Edwardes Lake … and now look at it, it’s just the most magnificent space,” Lahiff-Jenkins tells upstart.

However, the park is still not without its problems.

Over the past few decades, climate change, industrialisation, urban densification and stormwater pollution have decreased the water quality. When it rains, run off from the stormwater system and nearby industries end up in the lake, increasing the risk of E. coli, toxic algae and heavy metals. Pollution levels pose a risk for people conducting activities near the water, such as fishing and boating, and such activities remain banned for these reasons, amongst others.

Signage at Edwardes Lake conveying the fishing ban. Photo by author.

It’s not just humans who are at risk from the pollution. The park is full of wildlife and native biodiversity. Many water birds hold residence at the lake, including black swans, ducks, cormorants, herons, and darters. Other wildlife, like frogs and turtles, inhabit the surrounding area.

In recent years, Darebin residents have expressed concern about the enforcement of the fishing ban, when wildlife and pets began showing up with injuries caused by discarded fishing equipment.

One in five adult Australians fish recreationally, approximately 4.2 million people, and people still fish in Edwardes Lake, despite the ban. Social websites exist where people log their catches and review waterways. Some of these sites, although advertising that fishing is prohibited, have posts by local fishers from the lake.

This was considered by the council, but the risks outweighed the benefits. They found a fishing ban at the lake would be the best way for humans, pets, and wildlife to safely cohabitate.

Residents submitted questions regarding the lake at the Darebin council meeting on 24 March. Natali Barnett was the first to submit on the topic. She asked, “what the council plans to do about illegal fishing at Edwardes Lake”?

Caroline Buisson, the General Manager for Customer and Corporate, responded that while council officers patrol the lake, only a small number of fines have been issued because officers prefer to educate offenders. She went on to say that the council would be considering a new local law that would change the enforcement of the fishing ban.

“If adopted, fishing will be explicitly prohibited and Council will have more tools to enforce the Local Laws. Council will support the new Local Law with a community education campaign,” she said.

The proposed Community Amenity Local Law states that “A person must not, without a permit or written Council approval, in or on any municipal reserve … undertake any fishing activity”.

Lahiff-Jenkins was one of many people concerned by the enforcement of the fishing ban. She is worried about the health of her fellow residents, who may be misinformed about the risks of fishing at the lake.

“I come from a non-English speaking background where people are used to using the local waterways to fish and to gather food, and if that happens at Edwardes Lake, people could get very, very sick,” she says.

Lahiff-Jenkins is a dog owner, and through her engagement with the community, says she has talked to other owners whose beloved pets had become injured from discarded fishing litter, including a dog whose chest was punctured by fishing equipment.

“I imagine if dogs are being injured at such a rate, imagine wildlife that we don’t often get to see, that we don’t have as close a relationship with,” she says.

Friends of Edwardes Lake (FoEL) is a volunteer-based community group that cares for the wildlife and biodiversity around their parks and waterways. They host park cleanups and advocate for protections, amongst other things.

The group’s president, Kate Jost, says the key issues caused by fishing at the lake are the risk to human health and wildlife.

“We end up with lines, hooks, and you know, just cans of corn, drink bottles, and various other things being left on the bank,” Jost tells upstart.

Jost says that when people continue to break this law, it can become “quite antisocial, and it makes people feel unsafe.”

Edwardes Lake is inhabited by six species of fish-eating birds and two species of turtles. When fishing occurs at the lake, they are just some of the animals at risk.

Years of humans feeding the waterbirds have conditioned the animals to expect food when people gather near the water’s edge. This causes wildlife to approach the fisherfolk and, in some cases, swallow their hooks, causing irreparable damage to their oesophagus, stomachs, and intestines.

“It’s normally a death sentence. We haven’t had a bird yet recover,” Jost says.

Jost has firsthand experience with the drastic implications for the wildlife at the park. In 2023, Evie, a female Black Swan, stepped on a discarded fishing hook, which became lodged in her foot, causing a significant infection.

“She was terrified when we caught her, and as soon as we saw her foot,” Jost recalls. “It must’ve been so sore.”

Due to her injuries, Evie was euthanised by Zoos Victoria. Evie’s story made news, but fishing issues remain at the lake. Her partner, Kevin, has since relocated from the lake because it’s no longer safe for him.

Before Evie’s death, Kevin’s two prior partners died from injuries caused by off-leash dogs. Sometimes, dogs are the prey of the fishing hook, but predators to the birds.

This February, a Great Cormorant became trapped in a fishing line. He hung suspended from a tree until two locals found him, but he choked on the line before he could be saved.

An X-ray of the Great Cormorant with the embedded fish hook. Image used with permission from Kate Jost on behalf of Friends of Edwardes Lake.

Wildlife injuries don’t just pose a risk to the animals, they also create a hazard for rescuers, who sometimes must enter the murky water and restrain distressed animals, who see them as predators. The risk is even greater with birds such as Darters and Cormorants, which have serrated beaks for catching food.

Amongst the wildlife at Edwardes Lake are European Carp, a noxious species to Australia. One measure Australia has taken to reduce their population is the ruling that they should never be released back into the water and should instead be killed upon being caught.

The council is aware of this, and strategies are in place to manage them.

The National Carp Control Plan has made significant advances in its progress to create a virus that would eradicate the noxious fish. In the meantime, Jost says Australia’s native cormorant is helping the Darebin council cut back on the European Carp in the lake, catching several each day for food.

“If we end up in a situation where we have one less cormorant. We have one less employee of Darebin – resident of Darebin, call them what you like – that is controlling that carp,” she says.

Cohabitating with wildlife is a complex issue, and even more so when conflicting lifestyles merge in a local community. Fishing is important to many Australians, and Edwardes Lake is convenient to some, but at what cost to wildlife? When does the health risk warrant council involvement? For the Darebin council, a ban on water-related activities such as fishing aims to protect wildlife and ensure the safety of community members.

At the council meeting in March, the council said that the proposed amendments to the local law would provide them with more tools for enforcement and a supporting education program.

Jost believes the new law would strengthen protections for wildlife, but says she’s still advocating for more people to enforce it.

“We don’t want the people who are fishing to feel displaced. We want them to feel like they have purpose in the world and that they’re able to do the things that they like doing,” she says. “But in areas where it’s appropriate. “

Article: Angelina Giannis is a second-year Bachelor of Media and Communications (Journalism and Politics) student at La Trobe University.

Cover photo: Supplied by author.