Recreational fishing licence fees have been used to buy out commercial licences in certain areas and declared Recreational Fishing Havens. In other words, only rec fishers can fish in these areas.
The best example of just how well this has worked is Lake Macquarie. Not too many years ago Lake Macquarie suffered from poor catch rates, many undersize fish and degradation of the habitat.
Lake Macquarie is now a fishing paradise. Because there are now fish to be caught this lake supports much greater recreational angling than at any time in it’s history and yet fish stocks continue to thrive and grow with many species now being caught that have not been seen there for generations.
Ecofishers will continue to support the creation of recreational fishing havens and fishing habitat zones.