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

[Scott Mitchell]

Well I had a nice cup of coffee in front of me and it's too early to start the Rover so I thought I'd have a look through the whole thread to see what NSW has spent their license money on.
Well I could not find a spread sheet or table on what they've spent their money on only a link to some projects that are on the NSW DPI site http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/...onal/your-fees

One of the thing I saw was Fisheries Officers.$1,500,000 was allocated for Fisheries Officers. I would have thought their wages would have come out of the Government's coffers seeing they directly report to a Government department.
Then I found a post where committee members cost 60odd thousand dollars for meetings...and Pinhead said why??? Conference calls or webcams.

Real Andy also asked about what has been done with his money as he fishes the FNC of NSW and the reply was ...call the area rep.

Now I see the license has raised $34,500,000 over the last 3 years.
Looking at the link above about where the fees go the list of projects generally run from 2001 to 2008.
I cannot see where the 34 and 1/2 million dollars has been spent in the last 3 years...buggered if I can.
Actually looking at the projects there were a total of 56 grants given out for fishing facilities from 2001-2008. 25 of these grants were given to councils. That's nearly 1/2 of the grants were given to councils to do jobs rates are supposed to pay for.
I added up the figures for the angling facilities and the total came to about $350,000 from 2001-2008 with grants ranging from $333 for signs for the Singleton Fly Fishing Club to $20,000 for 3 fish cleaning tables for Coffs Harbour council.
Looking at the figures a lot of the larger grants were to Councils for fish cleaning tables.
So if I missed the table or spread sheet on what the money has been spent on I would really appreciate the effort of posting it.
There were no links on the fishing license site where I could see the spread sheet only gross generalisations.
So ... are the expenditures really transparent??

Time to start the Rover now

I actually work in real estate sales for a living now days & have been flat out - I believe these questions have been answered to the best of my knowledge previously. I have requested extra expense clarification from NSW DPI&F & hope to post more information once received.

Regards Scotto

[Black_Rat]

ECOFishers is pushing the agenda of the average rec fisherman. The guys that you dont see here. The guys that I meet at the pub, local events and fairs. The guys that are not tech savvy and you have no clue about. I get out there and discuss things with those people and take on board their ideas and suggestions. ECOFishers also goes out there and consults with scientist and people with local knowledge. We then take what we know as FACT and argue the point for those who are unable to do so. We will also take what we know as FALSE SCIENCE and LIES and argue for some truth. So trust us or not, we are not going away and we will not back down. We will continue to represent those who have been dealt unfairly by state and federal govenrments, and we will continue to represent those that have not been represented fairly by Sunfish. We will also do this with NO POLITICAL AGENDA. We are doing this because its the right thing to do. We are doing this because we were not being represented.

Andy,

Couldn't agree more

ECOfishers QLD had a stall set up at the VMR Viccy Point Boatie Market held on Sunday from 430am to close.

We spoke to many grass roots recreational anglers on a variety of issuses. We must have given away some 500 + booklets out on the Moreton Bay Marine Park Zones and the up to date size/bag limits brouchers. The recreational anglers we represent were most greatfull for this.

We also managed to gather 30 + rods and reels through kind donations for use by underprivileged and disadvantaged kids

I'm happy to push an agenda through EOfishers QLD that will benefit the recreational angler !

Damo.

[finga]

ECOfishers QLD had a stall set up at the VMR Viccy Point Boatie Market held on Sunday from 430am to close.

We spoke to many grass roots recreational anglers on a variety of issuses. We must have given away some 500 + booklets out on the Moreton Bay Marine Park Zones and the up to date size/bag limits brouchers. The recreational anglers we represent were most greatfull for this.

Damo.

That was the first time I had seen all the available booklets, cd's etc available in one place...and plenty of them to go around.
All the promotions nights at BCF etc that I have been too only have a handful of these things available and they seem to go pretty dam quick.
Thanks guys for making an effort in educating the general populaces on matters to do with fishing. It will make a difference.
Education is the key

Thanks for your efforts
Scott

PS it's just a shame some people were scared away by the presence of Timi.
Na, just kidding....or am I??

[mowerman]

PS it's just a shame some people were scared away by the presence of Timi.
Na, just kidding....or am I??

He was hitting them up for money for a sausage.

Hope you got sauce with it mate.


Rod

[TimiBoy]

mmmmm, 2 bucks a shot, who wouldn't want a sausage? All that yummy onion, and yes, I did have sauce.

All that onion was, well, productive!

Tim

[Scott Mitchell]

Couldn't get an itemised break down other than projects mentioned under each current trust fund. You can view the trust fund reports @ http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/...t-fund-reports

Still a more transparent system than what we have currently in Qld

Regards Scotto

[finga]

Couldn't get an itemised break down other than projects mentioned under each current trust fund. You can view the trust fund reports @ http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/...t-fund-reports

Still a more transparent system than what we have currently in Qld

Regards Scotto

you reckon??

I was originally in favour of licenses but after seeing how un-transparent the set-up is has left me bewildered and, frankly, staggered.
They are about as transparent as a brickwall on a moonless night.

I reckon I would have put my hand up top collect the $5,000 for something listed as "Defining a quality recreational fishing experience"
Too easy Campese.....get up, go fishing, come home. Now that's a quality recreational fishing experience because:
(a) I was able to get up
(b) I was able to go fishing
(c) I had a home to come home to and I got home.
That's a quality experience. Catching fish is a bi-product in all that

Now. Where's my 5k?? Seriously...where's my 5k???

[Scott Mitchell]

you reckon??

I was originally in favour of licenses but after seeing how un-transparent the set-up is has left me bewildered and, frankly, staggered.
They are about as transparent as a brickwall on a moonless night.

I reckon I would have put my hand up top collect the $5,000 for something listed as "Defining a quality recreational fishing experience"
Too easy Campese.....get up, go fishing, come home. Now that's a quality recreational fishing experience because:
(a) I was able to get up
(b) I was able to go fishing
(c) I had a home to come home to and I got home.
That's a quality experience. Catching fish is a bi-product in all that

Now. Where's my 5k?? Seriously...where's my 5k???

If you can't see the benifits of the having a rec license "along" the lines of the NSW model proposed over what we current have here in Qld - I rest my case

I'm actually going north fishing for a few weeks - catch'em while we can

Regards Scotto

[Lovey80]

In my opinion TRANSPARENT means any Rec Angler should be able log onto a Website and see an itemised list of how much was raised in that financial year and where every cent of the cash went and how much was left over at the end of the financial year. It should also be a link on the main page. THAT Scott is transparent! It seems your idea of transparent and the rest of us may be vastly different.

Cheers

Chris

[finga]

If you can't see the benifits of the having a rec license "along" the lines of the NSW model proposed over what we current have here in Qld - I rest my case

I'm actually going north fishing for a few weeks - catch'em while we can

Regards Scotto

To be honest I cannot see anything in that list that we do not get here already.
Most of the things should be out of the 2 local tiers of NSW government coffers like the fisheries officers and the cleaning tables to name but two.
Research is done, cleaning tables are made and fad's are put in already in QLD.
What does NSW get that we don't??

That list leaves a lot for the imagination of the reader.
What is charter fishing monitoring??
The boys go for a charter or two??
Or the gamefish tagging program. I would like to know what that is
Or recreational fishing havens process?? Don't know what it is but it cost $200,000
These are but a few more questions

[Scott Mitchell]

In my opinion TRANSPARENT means any Rec Angler should be able log onto a Website and see an itemised list of how much was raised in that financial year and where every cent of the cash went and how much was left over at the end of the financial year. It should also be a link on the main page. THAT Scott is transparent! It seems your idea of transparent and the rest of us may be vastly different.

Cheers

Chris

I believe you could write to ACORF/ NSW DPI&F & request an itemised / detailed list of total expenditure if required. I am personally happy with the detail believe that NSW is currently a long way out in front of Qld as far as fisheries management goes - just my opinion.

I recon we have covered enough detail in this thread for those wanting to vote to make an informed decision & will now let this poll run it's course

Regards Scott

[Scott Mitchell]

To be honest I cannot see anything in that list that we do not get here already.
Most of the things should be out of the 2 local tiers of NSW government coffers like the fisheries officers and the cleaning tables to name but two.
Research is done, cleaning tables are made and fad's are put in already in QLD.
What does NSW get that we don't??

That list leaves a lot for the imagination of the reader.
What is charter fishing monitoring??
The boys go for a charter or two??
Or the gamefish tagging program. I would like to know what that is
Or recreational fishing havens process?? Don't know what it is but it cost $200,000
These are but a few more questions

Seriously - http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/...onal/your-fees

In any case the details are all there you can analyse them any way you like - If your happy with the way things are or believe the government is going to supply more no-strings-attached funding to improve recreational angling - we'll re-visit this issue in a year

I'm going fishing - Scotto

[finga]

Don't go looking for any fads in NSW.
There aren't any
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fisheries/...water/fads/map

[Lovey80]

I believe you could write to ACORF/ NSW DPI&F & request an itemised / detailed list of total expenditure if required. I am personally happy with the detail believe that NSW is currently a long way out in front of Qld as far as fisheries management goes - just my opinion.

I recon we have covered enough detail in this thread for those wanting to vote to make an informed decision & will now let this poll run it's course

Regards Scott

I certainly do not think there is enough detail in this thread for someone to make an informed decision. After a glance at the 07/08 fishing expendiature, I was horrified at what thousands of dollars have gone to. While there ARE things in there that I would like to have funded out of a fishing licence if introduced, there is pleanty to show this is just a user pays arm of NSW fisheries.

Things like:

$30,000 just so the trust fund can be a member of RecFish. I would be screaming blue murder if Sunfish got 30K to represent me on their current record!

$16,000 for ACoRF mettings-What the?

$5,000 for defining a Quality Recreational Fishing Experience- What the?

$163,000 for Eastern King Prawn Stocking- For stocking a Prawn that will leave the river and get caught by prawners when they come back to breed in other systems. If all inshore prawning was banned then I'd be fine with that.

$28,000 for expendiature commitee meeting expenses. What the?

$1,458,000 - For fisheries officers - I agree that QLD state gov't are pathetic with funding fisheries officers and am the first to tell people we need more. But again the perfect example how a Gov't will not do the right thing if they know the average angler will pay for it.

$750,000 fishing survey for just greater Sydney-What the? Refer to my comments on ECO getting the money and ECO monitoring the RRFF mandatory catch cards. How far would $750,000 go? (not that ECO have said they want to take on the resposibility) but 750k going to an organisation would surely be enough to cover data entry of every Rec catch in the state!

$6,000 for Coffs Harbour fish cleaning facilities- Again something that should have been provided by the state gov't. There is enough going through state coffers to supply all ramps state wide just out of boat and trailer rego.

$114,000 for Charter Boat consultation and monitoring-What the?

$79,000 for recreation fishing in Shoal Haven river-What the? Research and works shops for what?

$148,000 for the Trust Executive Officer-Jobs for the boys eh? Big dollar jobs at that.

$122,000 for the Recreational Research Project-What the? See comments of the Greater Sydney Survey

I have only brought up the ones at a glance were a waste of money or could have been spent on much more needed projects......ONLY to emphasize why the NSW program is a crap program. Also the only reason I didnt mention some of the good things the money was spent on. As I have said in the past I'm not opposed totally to a fishing licence and things like:

Rec fishing Havens
Artificial Reefs
FAD's
Salt Restocking Programs (like NSW Mulloway)
Inshore Trawl buy outs and Beach netting buy outs in certain areas.

Just to name a few

Cheers

Chris

[Black_Rat]

That was the first time I had seen all the available booklets, cd's etc available in one place...and plenty of them to go around.
All the promotions nights at BCF etc that I have been too only have a handful of these things available and they seem to go pretty dam quick.
Thanks guys for making an effort in educating the general populaces on matters to do with fishing. It will make a difference.
Education is the key

Thanks for your efforts
Scott

PS it's just a shame some people were scared away by the presence of Timi.
Na, just kidding....or am I??

The CD's being handed out were Gently Does It #2 the CD deals with release methods and survival rates on various species. This is a very informative DVD on the survival rates when releasing fish.

For a free copy PM me or email me at treasurer@ecofishersqld.org.au and we'll post one out to you

Damo