hi pinhead, i was thinking that having a RFL would bond anglers together to protect their newly purchased right to a slice of the resource. similar to a weapons license and SSAA membership bonding a group of likeminded recreational shooters together to form a lobby group. again it's all hypothetical but that's what i reckon a license would do.
i can't understand the following:
commercial anglers pay for licensing to obtain their slice of a resource which they fight rigorously to defend, they also have a body to assist them with representation to government. the government recognises them as a legitimate activity/business.
by what captain incredible has to say, the charter operators do a similar thing to commercial operators in that they pay for licensing to obtain a slice of the resource, they also get together and have a representative group to defend their right to the resource. the government also recognises them as a legitimate activity/business.
now we come to by far the largest group of people that could also potentially form the largest lobby group, the recreational anglers. other than a levy on our boat rego, we don't pay for any licensing or directly contribute to any research. as a result the government doesn't really care about monitoring our catch or allocating a slice of any resource to us and generally treats recreational angling as a non-legitimate passtime. because of the lack of real data and science it's easier/cheaper for government to shut us out of areas or impose ridiculous rules/limits instead of properly researching the resource. we now get angry with the only group that realistically represents us to government and treat them with contempt.
i do now believe that phil and gazza are on the money though with an additional fee payable on boat regos for recreational anglers, zero bag limit and no fishing gear on board for anyone who doesn't tick the box and contribute seems way cheaper to manage than a RFL. i guess the only real question would be where the money goes and how it is managed/spent.