Recreational fishers set to benefit from changes to licence fees

Fishers in NSW will continue to benefit from a range of important projects thanks to a boost in funding for the state’s two independent recreational fishing trusts.

The additional funding for the trusts will come from a small increase in the cost of recreational fishing licences.

From July 1, the cost of a recreational fishing licence will increase from between $1 and $5, depending on the type of licence people choose to buy.

This is the first increase to the NSW recreational fishing licence in four years.

Monies raised from the sale of the licence are put into one of two trusts - the saltwater trust or the freshwater trust.

Expert anglers sit on both trusts and decide how to reinvest the funds across a number of important recreational fishing projects.

Sales of the recreational fishing licence over the past year have raised $10 million, and those funds will be spent on a range of improvements to both saltwater and freshwater fishing.

In fact, since the recreational fishing licence was introduced in 1998, more than $36 million has been raised to support ongoing projects.

These include the highly successful fish re-stocking programs, habitat restoration, and services such as fish cleaning tables and fishing platforms.

Another $135,000 will be spent on this year on installing extra Fish Attracting Devices along the coast, and more than half a million dollars will be spent on re-stocking both saltwater and freshwater species.

The additional funding will build on the success of these programs, with the money going straight into projects chosen by expert anglers.

Recreational fishers have also been calling for a durable, waterproof licence and an efficient sales system.

The Department of Primary Industries will soon call for tenders for a new state of the art electronic licence system and expect to have it piloted by 100 agents later this year. For the first time plastic, waterproof licences will be available to fishers.

The licence fees also go towards funding the 30 highly successful recreational fishing havens across the state.

Fishing continues to improve in the havens, and the State Government is working with industry to develop the further buyout of commercial fishing licences.

From July 1, a 3-year licence will increase from $70 to $75, a one-year from $25 to $30, a one-month licence will rise from $10 to $12 and a three-day licence will now cost $6, up a dollar.

Recreational fishing licenses can be purchased from most fishing tackle shops, service stations, K-Mart stores, caravan parks and on the NSW Fisheries website.

Past projects funded by the recreational trusts include:

A record level of fish stocking in 2003/2004, with 8.5 million fish released into NSW waterways.

A $120,000 project to improve fish habitats in the Clarence River over the past two years. This included removing restoring fish habitats, removing barriers to native fish movements, planting native trees and removing exotic vegetation

A gamefish tagging program which sees recreational fishers tag gamefish caught and released in NSW waters. The tagging program records valuable information on fish migration, growth and behaviour. Last year the project received $120,000 from the saltwater trust

The installation of 15 fish attracting devices (FADs) along the NSW coastline. These buoy-like devices have been successful at attracting significant numbers of fish and have proven very popular with recreational angler.