But the government and recreational fishing groups say this would destroy the bay. This week the government imposed a maximum catch of 60 tonnes on the company. "Out of the blue they've said 'we're going to revoke your licence' and change the whole basis of it, so it's not based on the science - we're just going to set a low cap on it'," the company's general manager Don Hamley said. Scalloping in the bay has a long and fraught history. In 1997 then Premier Jeff Kennett banned scallop fishing in the bay after dredging damaged the seabed habitat. In 2014 the Napthine Government decided enough time had passed for the environment to sufficiently regenerate, and auctioned off a single licence, initially for a 12-tonne annual catch. That move was supported by recreational fishers and advocates like Mr Hunt, who expected a small boutique scalloping operation to be set up to supply markets and restaurants.

But crucially the licence contained a provision allowing the size of the catch to grow if undersea surveys demonstrated plenty of available scallops. The company claims it came to an agreement with the government that it could harvest 585 tonnes of scallop, after survey results showed the population flourishing. But after a change of government in late 2014, the company says new agriculture minister Jaala Pulford "stonewalled" them and refused to set a new catch limit. "Fisheries themselves have said this is a very conservative, state-of-the-art managed fishery," Mr Hamley said. "Ms Pulford does not like this business and wants to get rid of it. She can't, so she's going to whittle it down to nothing."

The Minister's refusal to set a catch limit forced the company to go to the Supreme Court in 2015, where Justice John Rush found "a complete disregard by the Minister of the complainant's legitimate interests" and ordered her to set a catch limit. She eventually did, at 250 tonnes a year. But this week her department let the company know their take would now be capped at 60 tonnes a year from now on, with no possibility of increase. "The hand-dive scallop fishery in Port Philip Bay will continue to be a boutique operation as was always intended... ensuring the bay remains a mecca for recreational fishers", the Minister told Fairfax. Mr Hamley said his company had already invested a million dollars in developing the business, and now faced having to close down as a 60-tonne catch was not commercially sustainable. "This is a completely benign fishing activity. There is no dredging, there's no damage to seagrass. Everybody agrees this is completely sustainable. There is no environmental impact," Mr Hamley said.

He has endorsements from Seafood Industry Victoria, who say there is a "strong, healthy stock of scallops", as well as from restaurateur Neil Perry, who serves the scallops in his restaurants. Rex Hunt has been highly critical of the decision to allow harvesting hundreds of tonnes of scallops every year out of the bay. "If I need to, I will call on every fisherman in Victoria to oppose it. We have worked so hard to get bag limits, size limits, get the nets banned," he said. "This bloke wants to just go out and be greedy."