The most important process affecting recreational fishers for some years to come is currently under way in the form of a bag and size limit review being conducted by NSW DPI Fisheries.
Whilst public submissions have been called for it is a sad fact that over ninety percent of rec fishers in this state will not even know what has happened if they are told they have caught too many fish today.
Only five percent of fishers are members of fishing clubs and less than that interested in the politics of fishing.
It is up to organisations like Ecofishers to lobby the Government and it’s bureaucracies for the benefit of all anglers in the State whether they are members or not.
The current management committee of Ecofishers believes the proposals put forward in the name of Ecofishers must represent the will of the membership rather than our own personal views.
We can only properly represent you if we get feedback from you.
We urge you to make your own personal submissions but there is invariably a fair bit of horse trading goes on after the review process and we need to know your wishes so that we may continue negotiations right up until an agreement is reached that is acceptable to the majority of rec fishers.
Informal discussions with a number of Ecofishers members indicate they are not happy with the way this discussion paper has been presented and at the moment a majority don’t agree with lowering any bag limits because of a lack of science.
Please let us know your views by return email, facebook or PO box 282 Kempsey NSW 2440.
The link for the discussion paper is
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/464765/review_discussion_paper_web.pdf
Chris Wallis
Chairman