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VRFish Update
It’s not until you lose something that you appreciate it the most. This well-worn quote is becoming more applicable to recreational fishing on a number of fronts. As I write this, Victorians are enduring another Covid19 lock down, with reasons to leave home restricting our exercise to a 5km radius from home. That recreational fishing was included as exercise under this lockdown was both a blessing and a bittersweet pill for many of us. I’m one of the unlucky but lucky people who recreationally fishes for exercise and has fishable water within reach. Unfortunately, it’s a wetland on an urban drain that
Generally, how satisfied are you with the quality of recreational fishing in Victoria
What type of fisher are you? holds Carp to 3kg and the odd Eel. Any port in a storm, right? As your advocate for ‘all things fishing’ I’m always amazed at the sheer diversity of what we call recreational fishing. It doesn’t matter that I like to spend my rare spare time fishing in competitive lure tournaments or you like to spend an arvo with the kids on a pier somewhere pencil floating a gar or two. It’s all good as they say. Or is it? There is a creeping change to recreational fishing and a threat that is becoming more prevalent. The targeting of recreational fishing activity by “those opposed” in a time where government is sensitive to coordinated email campaigns is becoming normal. From crab fishing off piers to building a single lane boat ramp on a river, what was once the domain of organised but misguided ‘green’ groups is now a pervasive and common threat to what we do. The different sectors of groups who think what you do is wrong are now coordinating campaigns to drive knee-jerk political responses to ban recreational fishing, not on traditional sustainability or environmental grounds, but because they simply don’t like what we do. I can remember when I first started in recreational fishing advocacy the older generation would warn me that recreational fishing will eventually become as divisive as duck hunting. ‘Yeah right!’ I thought. I now deal with these threats on an almost daily basis and it has me thinking that as times change, we now have two great obligations if we want to continue what we do. Gone are the days when we could just go fishing. The first obligation is what I call responsible recreation and it’s something we already do well. When I responded to the Animal Welfare Act discussion paper recently it became apparent that recreational fishers are well ahead of the curve when it comes to best practice animal welfare. What started as good seafood handling practice has evolved into care for your catch, low impact equipment, rec fisher driven regulation such as slot limits to protect charismatic species and even grass roots advocacy for protecting biological process. On the environment front, rec fishers have many more runs on the board. Aquatic habitat improvement and riparian restoration projects abound, advocacy for environmental and recreational water is increasing, formal and informal clean up days are normal and the fact that it is now considered unacceptable to leave anything other than footprints from our activity is a solid case in point. As regular beneficiaries of our interactions
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with the natural world, recreational fishers are a lot more switched on than we are given credit for. But that’s not to say we should rest on our laurels. A great example was a rec fisher response to the recent VRFish Advocacy Priorities Survey who provided the following food for thought: “Recreational fishing needs to review and update its culture and relationship with the natural environment that it exploits. Simply teaching and encouraging people to fish is no longer appropriate. For parents to encourage their children to participate in recreational fishing we need to develop a well-considered approach
Here are the priorities VRFish are working on to make fishing better, for everyone:
ACCESS
Fixing our boat ramps and defending your fishing rights to access our waterways.
HABITAT
Improving our vital fish habitats through protection, restoration and enhancement.
WATER
Keeping our rivers flowing and defending recreational and environmental water allocations.
PROMOTE
Promoting fishing in Victoria, creating new and vibrant fisheries and supporting the next generation of fishers.
BEST PRACTICE
Supporting our fishers to take a lead role in the stewardship of our fish and waterways, fish responsibly and promote fish for the future.
that addresses and provides the cultural practices and ideological rationales that that makes killing a native creature a reasonable thing for children to do. The catching of fish needs to be seen as only a part of our culture which includes caring and restoring our waterways and building strong interpersonal relationships and heightening our awareness and appreciation of place”. The second obligation is the hardest. Now more than ever, recreational fishers are having to defend their choice of activity. This obligation now rests with the individual fisher and the requirement is to speak up. Without your voice we will continue to suffer a death by a thousand cuts. It doesn’t matter if the issue involves a species you don’t fish for. If it involves recreational fishing, what you choose to do as a recreational activity, it now involves you. “Someone else will handle it” is not cutting it anymore. Someone else is now working to ban your past time. As an advocate for state-wide recreational fishing, I see the dark clouds before most and will use our communications channels to alert you to the fact that there is an issue requiring your voice. This could be as simple as a Facebook post or a survey of recreational fisher attitudes. Three minutes of your time to voice an opinion, on the odd occasion, is now an essential investment in protecting your recreational fishing into the future. What are some of the current issues I’m dealing with across the State that require your voice? Recently, arguing the toss for the ability to troll an SBT lure through the biocontrol zone around Portland couldn’t have happened without our SW recreational fishers voice, re-opening public roads to waterfront public land that are illegally being closed hand over fist has a growing voice, defending our share of the rock lobster fishery has the recreational divers speaking up, preparing advice on the Corner Inlet fishery management plan can’t happen without local rec fishers voicing concerns are just a few examples. Ultimately, it’s the job of your peak body to help you speak up and it’s a job that I look forward to. With a strong voice we can continue to go fishing in the knowledge that the activity we undertake is a public good on so many fronts. With a strong voice the investment in time and effort required to provide us with the best recreational fishing possible, no matter what that type of fishing is, will be sustainable.
Ben Scullin - Executive Officer
VICTORIA'S RECREATIONAL FISHING PEAK BODY
HABITAT WATER ACCESS BEST PRACTICE PROMOTE
Visit the VRFish website www.vrfish.com.au
