Nationals Minister for Agriculture Adam Marshall has released the inaugural Recreational Fishing Annual Report, delivering a new benchmark in accountability and transparency on the projects and services funded by fishing licence fees.
Mr Marshall said the Annual Report showed $19 million in projects had been funded through the Recreational Fishing Trust in 2020-21.
“Each year our fishers pay their licence fees and every single one of those dollars goes back into hundreds of projects and initiatives to support and promote the recreational fishing industry,” Mr Marshall said.
“In 2020-21, 89 projects worth more than $19 million were approved. These projects are diverse as building fish cleaning tables, fishing platforms, fishing safety infrastructure and access upgrades.
“They also fund some of our most popular ongoing programs such as Fish Aggregating Devices, Offshore Artificial Reefs and hundreds of community fishing events.
“The release of the inaugural Recreational Fishing Annual Report is part of our commitment to ensure fishers know exactly how we spend their license fees, and can see the value in their investment.”
Mr Marshall said the online, interactive report provided multiple ways to show how licence fees were spent.
“This is a new way for fishos to explore what we are investing in and what they can enjoy in their communities thanks to their fishing fees,” Mr Marshall said.
“These are audited reports with a full financial breakdown for those who want to dive into the detail but we have also produced 40 pages of the best projects, facts and figures.
“I would encourage our more than one million fishos who have a recreational fishing licence to jump online and learn more about how their fees are put to work.”
The Recreational Fishing Trust Annual Report will be released annually and is now available at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au.
