What are your thoughts on the idea of a General Recreational Fishing licence ?

[Scott Mitchell]

What are your thoughts on the idea of a General Recreational Fishing licence ?

If In Favour I suggest we would model it on the NSW example along the lines of :-

1) ALL money raised goes into two transparent Trust accounts – One for Freshwater ( taking over from the current SIPS program – This would be kicked off with a minimum of the average funds raised under the current SIPS over the last 3 years as a starting guide for allocation ) Plus a New Saltwater Trust – where All remaining fund would be held. No funds can be spent without written approval from the management committees.

2) Administration costs to manage the program would be capped at 10% from License contributions – This employs government staff to administer & manage the program.

3) The 1st priority would be to establish a selection of Recreation Fishing havens ( RFH's ) throughout Queensland in Key recreational angling areas IE: Great Sandy Straights – where ALL commercial fishing would be brought out of the designated areas– with no exceptions.

4) All remaining funds would be managed by a selection of committees consisting of recreational anglers from ALL zones with-in the state IE – Freshwater Committee – Saltwater Committee & a Head Committee – consisting of recreational anglers with expertise with in their areas.

5) What are your thoughts on costs ie:-

3 Days = $6.00
1 Month = $12.00
1 Year = $30.00
3 Years = $75.00

6) More back ground can be viewed @ http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/recreational/licence-fee

Should be an interesting debate - Scotto

[Lucky_Phill]

Scott,

This very subject is being considered by ECOfishers Qld and been brought up in discussions with various Gov bodies and committees recently.

Here is one part I personally do not like:-

2) Administration costs to manage the program would be capped at 10% from License contributions – This employs government staff to administer & manage the program.

Trust me, there are ample people already within the department that could do this job and not impinge of their current work load..... That was a nice way putting it.

I personally believe that there is sufficient funds collected through GST and taxes on recreational anglers to buy out all neccessary commercial licences in Queensland and have plenty left for research.

Having said that, the importance of recreational fishing in not only Queensland, but the whole of Australia, far outweighs the benefits provided by current commercial practices.

This is where Qld Tourism, State Development and DPI&F need to step up to the plate. You simply have to look at what has happened in the NT in recent years to know that one fish can contribute many thousands of dollars to an economy, whereas if it gets caught by commercial fishers, it provides very little.

Queensland is on the brink of either establishing one of the worlds best recreational and tourism based fisheries or seeing it collapse under misguided government policy.

Thanks for this post and it has been discussed before. I just hope people see the big picture and are not lead to believe that a recreational fishing licence would be the saviour of the recreational fishery in Qld. I know the NSW model has provided some great outcomes, in particular " estuaries ", but we must be aware of what happened recently in the Moreton Bay Marine Park licence buy-back scheme, where many licences were bought back only to see the " effort " reduced by about 2%. That was one hell of a stuff up. Even the commercial operators told the gov this would happen.

Cheers Phill
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[Lucky_Phill]

I like and endorse this:-


4) All remaining funds would be managed by a selection of committees consisting of recreational anglers from ALL zones with-in the state IE – Freshwater Committee – Saltwater Committee & a Head Committee – consisting of recreational anglers with expertise with in their areas.


Cheers Phill
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[Chimo]

Yeah more money for general revenue to be spent on political whims.

About as clever as increasing registration fees to make things better on the roads etc

Simple, naive, idea from an individual who may not have had the benefit of forty five years working to earn money to give it to govt to spend on things to get polies re-elected but not to improve fishing or boat ramps etc

If your not catching enough fish take a course (at your own expense!) or go out with a skilled fisho who can give you a few clues about fishing and maybe other things too.

Cheers
Chimo

[Scott Mitchell]

John Mondora's “Notes from a cranky old bastard" in the latest Barra Bass & Bream issue 26 is a good read - The Great Fishing License Debate !

It will be on the table sooner, rather than later & I suggest the wider recreational angling community seriously looks at supporting a system that we CAN have control over - based on the NSW model. Otherwise we'll end up with an alternative that the government COULD implement on their terms

OR we could run with an alternative - like those suggest here

United we'll take control of our fisheries - Divided we'll leave it up to the government & whinge around the chat boards & boat ramps

Regards Scotto

[Scott Mitchell]

Yeah more money for general revenue to be spent on political whims.

About as clever as increasing registration fees to make things better on the roads etc

Simple, naive, idea from an individual who may not have had the benefit of forty five years working to earn money to give it to govt to spend on things to get polies re-elected but not to improve fishing or boat ramps etc

If your not catching enough fish take a course (at your own expense!) or go out with a skilled fisho who can give you a few clues about fishing and maybe other things too.

Cheers
Chimo

Please READ the proposal / proviso THAT IF we where to introduce a general recreational fishing license in Qld IT WOULD BE based on the NSW model - Which address these concerns

Otherwise I'm keen to see how we can achieve similar results with out one ?

Regards Scotto

[STUIE63]

yeah well everytime they raise the rego's they tell us it is for better ramps and I haven't seen any for a long time so ,a big NO for me
Stuie

[Noelm]

I guess in an ideal world, it would be great, (not too sure how far you will get with a buy out of all pros from any area though) but seeing as we live in a far from ideal place, then funds will be used to build "stuff" that will be of little benefit to those that paid the fee, Scott, you are familiar with Shellharbour ramp, just recently they spent god knows how much on "improvements" and what we got was some gardens, lost a pile of parking spots, some gates that are locked to the parking lot (to keep out the hoons) but they are locked from 7PM untill 6AM, during which time the early fisherman/boaties have to park elsewhere, how the money is spent is only half the battle, it needs to be spent on things that will benefit the fisher people as a whole, and not gardens and stuff.

[Chris Ryan]

Hey Scott,

Interesting post and a good one for open discussions. I'll be in touch very soon to have a natter on this with you.

[FNQCairns]

I was there at the start of the NSW one and what a crock that was, nothing was achieved that couldn't have been otherwise and then the proceeded to lock out vast angling areas.... quality value for stolen money, nothing was achieved that couldn't have been otherwise.

Outside of a water and power grab the licence adds another aspect ...a money grab! Fair dinkum we are all dumbos belly up no matter what state we live in.

The NSW model had very little support from general fishers but that never matters it's the self obsessed or professed elite that push these things to serve themselves first as usual.

Couldn't vote as the model was too grossly typical of a multiple choice one would see from government anyway, far from happy with current management but I know throwing more free money at them will not make matters better, quality angling fishery management will and that will come from departmental character and responsibility, which is lacking in spades ATM.

cheers fnq

[Scott Mitchell]

I was there at the start of the NSW one and what a crock that was, nothing was achieved that couldn't have been otherwise and then the proceeded to lock out vast angling areas.... quality value for stolen money, nothing was achieved that couldn't have been otherwise.

Outside of a water and power grab the licence adds another aspect ...a money grab! Fair dinkum we are all dumbos belly up no matter what state we live in.

The NSW model had very little support from general fishers but that never matters it's the self obsessed or professed elite that push these things to serve themselves first as usual.

Couldn't vote as the model was too grossly typical of a multiple choice one would see from government anyway, far from happy with current management but I know throwing more free money at them will not make matters better, quality angling fishery management will and that will come from departmental character and responsibility, which is lacking in spades ATM.

cheers fnq

FNQ - So would you say that the fishing in NSW has not benefited from have a user pays general recreational angling license ?

I am not say it is a perfect system - rather that I believe it is a better system which WILL give the wider general recreational anglers of Qld better control over our fisheries.

Including payments towards recreational angling generally from with-in your rego payments is fraught with grey areas - no transparency - who knows where your money will end up ?

I still see that your rego money should go towards better boat ramp facilities & roads generally - a general fishing licence WITH A TRANSPARENT TRUST ACCOUNT - that is audited annually & can only have money spent from it with the approval of committees made up of recreational anglers - IS THE ONLY way you'll know exactly where your money is going - you may even have a say in it

We need people out there talking about it - how could we even make it better - How do we get our government to GIVE US CONTROL

Regards Scotto

[deepfried]

From a NSW point of view it is now normal to pay my fee. Its not dear for a years fishing. At Ballina we have just had the ramp improved ( No new gardens ) and a good cleaning table was put in a while back. The Richmond River has also benefited from some of the money with improvements to cane drains. I would bet that nearly none of this would have been done without the license fees that are being paid. This state has troubles getting anything done so to see real improvements is a good.

I dont however like the rec money being used to buy out pro licenses that involve fishing in an over fished fishery ( eg longliners ), using pracitices that should be banned anyway and in areas that pro fishing should not be practiced ( ie rivers ) as i think the state should have already bought these licenses out or closed down the fishery at the state coffers expense not the fishing publics as it is a state / national and environmental issue not just a rec fisheries issue. Dont get me wrong i want these pros bought out but it should have already happened, if the only alternative is the use of rec money then i guess i can live with it though. If on the other hand the pros being bought out are from areas that can sustain the pro fishery but without them improves the rec catch then i have no probs with rec money being used for it. Does that all make sense.

There are real positives from the license down here and i cant see why it would be different for Qld. Qlders would also have the benefit of seeing what has been down down here and make any changes needed to make it an even better system.

[Scott Mitchell]

There are real positives from the license down here and i cant see why it would be different for Qld. Qlders would also have the benefit of seeing what has been down down here and make any changes needed to make it an even better system.

It's great to get some real feedback from anglers who can see the benefits in NSW - while no system will be perfect - just having one is better that what we currently have in Qld

Regards Scotto

[mylestom]

When the introduced the licence in NSW. They bought all the commercial fisherman out of the Bellinger/Kalang system, now when the fish head out to sea to breed (Mullett,Mulloway etc) the beach haulers sit at the mouth and round them all up.

Now they are breeding Mulloway to restock some of the river systems in NSW, well why let them take the breeding stock in the first place. Seems a bit of chasing the tail.

There has been some small gains for the recreational fisherman, but personal opinion is a lot of red tape to get anything done, and the beach haulers are not involved (They just write the rules themselves with the blessing of fisheries). Been down that track and from the minister down they won't interfere with the status quo.

It all sounds good but don't believe it is really value for money, also loss of trade for local tackle shops, corner shops. Nobody just decides to fishing at the drop of the hat. Too much hassle getting a licence. See it all the time with the community and holidaymakers around here.


Regards

Trev

[FNQCairns]

What I am saying is that Angling needs no committee overview or direct taxation. The fish do not know they are somehow richer neither does the waterscape. What is needed is a vast voter block that will promote from grass roots all the way up to the controlling elite.

For instance SIP on what was once free (as in freedom) water, it still cost the public tax dollars, is a tax, very few areas where not populated by anglers in the act of angling very few do now, the vast majority has been excluded, the majority couldn't care less if they catch a stocked fish and certainly wouldn't traditionally pay to do so, so they no longer participate (my family included).

The licence is a great long term tool for attrition even the environmental zealots couldn't hope for a better system than they have in NSW, it was a failure from the start as was Victoria, nothing achieved that couldn't be achieve anyway with low level and basic political will, simply a tax on healthy recreation that they get away with because of a lack of education, angler apathy and no voter block.

There was nothing or is nothing democratic in fishing licences just fisherys riding roughshod still, no change here or there, the stacked panels, threats of forcing option B, unless you take 'voluntarily' option A, with no competent C option allowed.

The only way to have a say as an Angler is through a voter block but that's too hard for most. I have zero interest in joining through regulation a government controlled fishing union and paying my dues for them to 'not actually represent me', just as was the case for me in NSW with the licence and is the case here in QLD through Sunfish althoug no fees but governement grants.

cheers fnq