Key Messages From The National Rec Fishing Survey
Participation in fishing
- Participation rates are highest for:
- Males
- Those aged 30-44
- Those who live in regional areas
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
- 4.2 million Australians (21%) participate in fishing
- Northern Territory has the highest participation rates, but a smaller population
- Eastern states have lower participation rates, but bigger numbers due to a larger population
- There were 28.6 million fishing events in 2018-19
Popularity of fishing
- Fishing is the 10th most popular recreational pursuit, roughly equivalent to cycling
Contribution to Australian Economy
- Recreational fishing contributes over 100K jobs and 11 billion dollars to GDP
- $8.7b of the fishing related GDP occurs in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland
- A high proportion of the jobs are in regional areas
- Recreational fishing plays an important role in redistributing wealth from cities to regions
Social Licence
- Fishing is seen as a socially acceptable pastime by 79% of Australians
- The acceptability of fishing as a recreational pursuit is highest among:
- Those who live in regional areas
- Households that include individuals who fish
- Fishing has one of the highest rates of acceptance among common activities
Contribution to Wellbeing
- Recreational fishers have a significantly higher level of wellbeing than the general population
- Fishing plays an important role in the lives of people experiencing stressful events such as divorce, loss of a loved one etc.
- A high proportion of fishers view fishing as a way of maintaining family and social connections
- Fishers who participate with friends and family have higher wellbeing
Physical Activity
- Recreational fishing plays an important role in increasing the activity levels of Australians
- Fishing is especially important for increasing activity levels of over 65’s
Environmental Stewardship
- Recreational fishers identify as good environmental stewards
- Fishers contribute to the health of the environment through:
- removing rubbish they see whilst fishing
- donating to organisations that improve aquatic environments
- participating in cleanups, habitat restoration and pest fish management
- reporting environmental problems and illegal activities.
- The majority of fishers understand how to fish responsibly
Citizen Science
- The majority of recreational fishers support citizen science, including:
- reporting their catches to better understand fisheries
- reporting sightings of key aquatic species
- reporting sightings of birds and other marine life
- uploading of fish images to contribute to stock assessment
- collection of water samples for analysis
Impacts of Covid and bushfires
- Participation in recreational fishing was impacted by Covid and bushfires but returned to previous levels
Dr Andy Moore
Fisheries Biologist & Obsessed Angler
Andy started fishing at a very young age and became a lure fishing convert when, as a thirteen year old, he met and had the opportunity to fish with Vic McCrystal. He’s since fished all over Australia and overseas using lures and flies. When he’s not fishing Andy is just as passionate about his work as a Fisheries Scientist, where he’s researched Eastern Cod, studied the impacts of exotic fish on our native population and grappled with assessments of fish stocks and recruitment.
Episode 555: Mallacoota Bream With Nikki Bryant
Mallacoota is a location endowed with exquisite and near-pristine natural environments – but most of all with tons of estuary fishing options that include massive flathead and bream. Nikki has fished the area for years and is well known for her competitiveness in tournaments and her commitment to helping others get into lure fishing.
Episode 553: Adventure Fishing And YouTubing With Rodney Pacitti
Rodney Pacitti isn’t so much a hard-core sportfisher, but an adventure fisher who island hopes in small boats, fished offshore from kayaks and does solo survival trips where lure-caught fish are his main food source. In todays episode we talk through this, but also spend some time exploring the success factors for fishing YouTubers.
Episode 551: Richmond River Bass with Joseph Urquhart
Joey Urquhart grew up fishing the Richmond River system, progressed to tournament angling and then became an award winning hand-crafted lure maker. He still lives near the river and fishes it frequently, so there are not too many more qualified to take us onto these waters in search of bass!
Episode 550: Best Spring Bass Fishing Spots With Keeghan Painter
Spring bass fishing can be challenging but rewarding, with fishing moving back and forth between deeper and shallower environments. This means they can be taken on everything from blades and jigs through to soft plastics and jerkbaits. Tournament Gun Keeghan Painter spends todays episode going through five of his favourite spring bass fishing haunts, helping us to understand how each one fishes as the weather starts to warm.
Episode 549: Northern NSW Land-Based Jewfish With Josh Annand
The NSW Northern coastline is a superb destination for a great many prized fishing species, but few are so revered as the jewfish. Definitely one the country’s more challenging fish species on lures, it’s understandable that many keen jewfish anglers guard their knowledge closely. Today’s guest Josh Annand isn’t one of those though. He came onboard the ALF podcast to share what he’s learned about targeting jewfish on lures from the stones – and he didn’t hold back.
Lure Fishing Spots: North And South Pine River
The Pine Rivers system boats some of the best fishing spots in Brisbane's northern suburbs. Whether you fish the lakes at the top end of the system, work the northern or southern rivers, or spend time flicking lures around Hayes Inlet (Hornibrook) where the system...
The Art Of Luring Bream
Tim “The Bream” Morgan is highly respected for his achievements on the tournament bream circuit, so when he gets chatting to fellow bream gun Andrew Death, you’d better believe that the pro tips will start flowing!
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