2007 Northern Fishing Clinic Tour

I write this month's article prior to joining Recfishwest's 2007 Northern Fishing Clinic Tour for a week out of the office teaching the youth of the north-west of Western Australia the fun and benefits of fishing. Recfishwest has successfully run an annual Northern Fishing Clinic Tour for the past 2 years. In 2007 we will again be returning to many towns in north-west we have visited on previous tours plus a few extra.

This tour will bring the 'Addicted to Fishing not Drugs' and 'SunSmart' messages to Western Australia's northern region using funds from the Commonwealth Recreational Fishing Community Grants program and Healthway.

The role of these clinics is to encourage sustainable fishing practices along with casting techniques, selection of bait and general rigging, recognition of fish species, catch and release and aquatic conservation. They also cover personal safety, caring for your catch as well as current rules and regulations.

One of the common messages I promote when helping out at these clinics is that you don't necessarily have to be the strongest kid or the smartest kid to be good at fishing. I get a lot of satisfaction witnessing many participants grow in self-confidence before my very eyes. Fishing is a fantastic medium for children to spend quality time with their family and friends, allowing a great opportunity to discuss the many social issues that youth now face. This is largely what the "Addicted to Fishing not Drugs" program promotes.

I will be joining the Exmouth to Karratha leg of the tour. I am particularly excited about this as it means I can catch up with participants from a special week long fishing clinic run in conjunction with the Shire of Ashburton, local police and mining companies in April this year. I reported on the fantastic time Recfishwest had with the youth in Onslow in the June edition of Hotbite. The follow-up contact will be great to see how the children have grown since the program earlier in the year and see if they are applying the skills they have learnt.

What make these clinics even more exciting are the fantastic fishing opportunities that are available in the north-west of our state. Clinic participants can expect to catch species such as queenfish, mangrove jack, threadfin salmon and many species of trevally. For children that have never fished before, there could be no better place to learn.

See Northern Tour Fishing Clinics August 2007 for some photos.

The clinics will also provide an opportunity to catch up with local recfishers and their clubs and associations as well as local political members in the north-west region.

Recfishwest has been given a challenge from the Minister for Fisheries to boost our membership to be more representative of our constituents. One area that we certainly need to improve is our membership in the regional areas of Western Australia.

Now I have outlined before the achievements of Recfishwest and what we are doing as your peak representative body before, but I thought it would be again timely to go through some of many things we have done. I hope at least one of these achievements have helped make your recreational fishing experience better and inspires you to join Recfishwest, we need you now more than ever.

What is Recfishwest doing for you?

• Recfishwest strongly negotiated on behalf of recreational fishers for the management of the commercial wetline fishery. This will result in better quality recreational fishing.

• Consistent lobbying paid off when for the first time an Easter closure to commercial salmon fishing in the south-west was announced.

• Recfishwest negotiated the 'barra accord' with commercial fishermen to get more areas as recreational fishing only. We are also working to get a fishway on the lower Ord River!

• Recfishwest negotiated for a 5% western rock lobster recreational allocation through the Integrated Fisheries Management process. This is higher than the current recreational catch of 3% and allows for future growth in the sector.

• Recfishwest has made a real difference in allowing fishing to continue in a proposed two mile wide no-fishing zone around a submarine cable in the most popular recreational fishing areas in metropolitan waters.

• Recfishwest worked closely with member for Albany Peter Watson and passionate local Robert Robinson to get the Wilson Inlet pink snapper minimum legal size limit brought into line with the rest of the state!

• The spawning aggregation of pink snapper in Cockburn Sound was protected following lobbying from Recfishwest and the VFLO program.

• Recfishwest worked with the City of Canning to have jetties installed specifically for recreational fishing and with the Swan River Trust for research on river prawns.

• Recfishwest has worked on improving survival of released fish including with release weights; on tagging programs and Samson fish research.

• If you've caught a bream in the Swan River, chances are it was stocked by Recfishwest in conjunction with Challenger TAFE following a major fish kill a few years ago.

• Last year we ran 50 fishing clinics for more than 1,500 children from Kununurra to Esperance.

• If you fish in fresh water, it was Recfishwest that got that horrible pipeline removed from the middle of Lefroy Brook and it was us that kept the trees in Harvey Dam that is now producing some excellent trout to go with the marron and redfin.

Check out the Recfishwest website at www.recfishwest.org.au for more information about issues affecting recreational fishing that Recfishwest is working on for you. For only $20.00 you can help ensure Recfishwest's future.

Kane Moyle
Policy Officer



This page last updated on 6 October 2007.