The Department of Primary Industries has released its first report on recreational fishing to increase accountability and transparency on the projects and services funded by fishing licence fees.
Announced by Minister for Agriculture, Adam Marshall, the NSW Recreational Fishing Trusts Annual Report 2020/21 showed $19 million in projects had been funded through the Recreational Fishing Trust last financial year.
“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,” he said.
“These projects are as diverse as building fish cleaning tables, fishing platforms, fishing safety infrastructure and access upgrades.”
Mr Marshall said licence fees also funded 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 licence fees and can see the value in their investment,” he said.
The Minister said the online, interactive Report provided multiple ways for people to explore 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,” he 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,” Mr Marshall said.
The Recreational Fishing Trust’s Annual Report can be accessed at this PS News link and a 46-page printable version of the Report at this link.
