NSW News

AFTA’s NSW Representative, Damian Kerves attended the last Recreational Fishing Saltwater Trust Expenditure Committee (RFSTEC) meeting which was held in March with the majority of board members attending in person or via Zoom.

There were no grant requests lodged for review during the meeting but some of the points presented by various fisheries representatives to the board members included the following;

Licence fees
$13.4m received YTD and on target to beat the forecast of $16m
329,892 licences issued YTD and on target to beat FY 19/20 of 426,024
74% of licences purchased online but tackle shops play a massive part in the issuing of the short-term paper licences

Grants Approved
2646 grants completed since 2001
FY 20/21 $21.5m of grants approved

NSW Tagging Programme
Since its inception in 1973, 478,000 fish have been tagged by anglers up to 2018
Generally, 60,000 anglers participate in the programme each year
950 fishing clubs are represented

Fish Stocking
50,000 flathead were successfully released into three NSW South Coast estuaries in March 2021
50,000 mulloway fry successfully released into the lower Georges River
Thanks to recent breeding techniques changing, thousands more to be released in April/May

Interesting Facts
82% of current fishers first wet a line before the age of 12
Supports the emphasis by AFTA and other peak bodies keep concentrating on getting kids fishing

The next scheduled meeting will take place in September and a widened media campaign will be undertaken to attract more varied applications going forward.