Police on the water: Victoria Police Water Police Squad Sergeant Frank Pisani (centre) with Senior Constable Cait Middleton and Leading Senior Constable Peter Murphy.
Victoria Police officers from the Water Police Squad were out on the water at Lake Nagambie on the weekend for GoFish Nagambie competition.
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Officers were patrolling land and water from Friday to Sunday to ensure proper safety guidelines were followed.
“We’re here to mainly ensure people are aware of what their safety equipment should be, and that they’re adhering to it,” squad Sergeant Frank Pisani said.
Overall, he said officers were happy with people’s behaviour on the water.
“We’ve had really good compliance this weekend,” he said.
As well as checking safety equipment on vessel, Sgt Pisani said officers enforced speed restrictions and conducted alcohol breath tests.
Water safety: Officers were patrolling Nagambie Lake on jet skis and a boat to check vessels were equipped with the correct equipment and that operators were being safe.
“Every interaction we have with jet ski and boat operators, we want to make sure they’re educated on the appropriate safety use of their vessel,” he said.
According to data from Victoria Police, almost 80 per cent of people who drown during a boating accident in Victoria were not wearing a life jacket or were wearing it incorrectly.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said police checked about 100 vessels at Nagambie with more than 100 people during their visit.
Police fined 21 vessel operators for failing to follow the rules.
Of the 36 alcohol breath tests conducted, just one person returned a positive breath test.
The spokesperson said the 31-year-old Nagambie man was found operating a vessel with a blood alcohol reading of 0.064 while camping at Major Creek.
He was fined $545 and lost his marine license for six months, the spokesperson said.
Water police were also deployed to Waranga Basin to monitor vessel safety.
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