New study shows anglers really do care

Recreational fishers spend $33 million caring for fish stocks

A recently completed project funded by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation has shown that Australia’s recreational fishing community plays an increasingly important role in caring for our fish stocks and the waterways in which they live.

Project leader Matt Barwick said: “the purpose of the project was to really get a handle on how active Australia’s recreational fishing community is in caring for our fisheries and the habitats and ecosystems they depend on.

“This is the first time anyone has tried to develop an understanding of the role that recreational fishers play in looking after Australia’s aquatic resources, and the results have been really interesting.”

The study entitled Angling for Conservation found that recreational fishers contribute significantly towards conservation and sustainability-focussed initiatives around Australia, providing vital investment and sometimes hands-on delivery of key projects.

The recreational fishing community has invested an impressive $33.1 million of its own money in projects with a focus on conservation or sustainability around Australia.

Habitat improvement projects were found to be most commonly type of project funded by recreational fishers with 18 per cent involving revegetation of river banks and foreshores, 17 per cent involving improvement of fish passage, and 14 per cent involving bank stabilisation works to reduce erosion.

In terms of total investment, recreational fishers spent most of their money ($9.47m) on research to ensure fisheries remained sustainable.

However, there was also significant investment ($7.9m) in projects to help deliver educative messages to recreational fishers and the broader community, monitor aquatic ecosystems ($6.3m), and improve fish passage through building fishways and removing old barriers ($5.7m).

The study has shown that Australia’s recreational fishers aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty either, having led on-ground delivery of approximately $1.3 million in projects throughout Australia.

According to Barwick, it’s likely that the figures reported dramatically underestimate the level of investment made by recreational fishers, as Angling for Conservation has only captured financial investment.

The level of in-kind contribution made by recreational fishers through volunteering their time is still unknown but would doubtless significantly exceed the level of financial investment.

The value of recreational fishing licensing schemes was reinforced through the findings of this project, with the majority of activities found to occur within jurisdictions with licensing programs, and particularly through initiatives such as New South Wale’s Habitat Action Grants Program, which is funded through the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust.

“Angling for Conservation is designed to be a growing, evolving account of angler involvement in conservation and sustainability-focused projects. We would love people to continue to tell us about new projects so that this resource can continue to grow over time to reflect increasing activity amongst the recreational fishing community,” Barwick says.

An interesting tool has also been developed through the project to enable people access to information about relevant projects using Google Earth™. Go to www.anglingforconservation.org to find out more about projects happening in your area.

“The take-home message from this study is that recreational fishers are becoming more and more involved in looking after our fish stocks, and caring for fish habitat,” Barwick says.

With over four million recreational fishers around Australia, there is always scope to do more. If you’re a recreational fisher and interested in getting involved in projects to help care for the fish stocks and waterways in your area, get involved with the Fish Habitat Network at www.fishhabitatnetwork.com.au.

For a copy of the full report go to http://anglingforconservation.org.

Photos of some of the examples of recreational fishers’ good work accompanying this story show a study monitoring the impacts of re-snagging on the Murray; garbage collected by recreational fishers as part of Cleaning up the ‘Pin’, an annual event run by Sunfish Queensland; revegetation efforts at South Creek by Bass Sydney members; and recreational fishers planting future snags along the Tuross River.

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New study shows anglers really do care

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