Time for a Sea Change In Rec’ Fishing?
Can you imagine an Australia without recreational fishing? Jo Starling fears that such a dire future might not be beyond the realms of possibility, especially if we continue on our present path. Following a year of heated and very public debate on a number of fishing-related fronts, Jo implores us to take ourselves seriously and promote our industry’s immense importance to those in positions of power.
WARK! WARK! Grrrrreeewl…. grrrrrrreeewwl… grrrrrrrrrrrrl. The seagull’s outstretched throat nearly brushed the gravel as it defiantly strutted a warning to its competitors that the next chip was spoken for.
The little girl with the polka-dotted sun hat donated another morsel to the congregation, squealing excitedly as they squabbled, fluttered, chased and then regrouped a safe distance from her seat.
The girl’s mother absent-mindedly dragged a wind-swept strand of hair from her daughter’s eyes before encouraging the young girl to eat some of the fish and chips herself. The visiting family of four were tucking into a picnic lunch on the foreshore of the little seaside hamlet they returned to for their holidays every year.
This was intermission. The last couple of hours had been spent pumping bait, a moderately successful collection of which waited in the mud spattered bucket by the son’s feet… right next to Dad’s tackle box. Four rods balanced against the end of the table. Mother and daughter would be float fishing this afternoon, father and son are going to flick some lures.
This was quality time. This was why the parents worked so hard. It was times like this that made the daily grind worthwhile. The giggles, the cooperation, the time-out, the wind-down, the de-stress, the fresh, salty air… the chance to share knowledge, values and the appreciation of nature. These holidays at the coast were some of the most valuable family times they had.
How quintessentially Australian is this scenario? For many, this is an accurate description of a family cultural tradition and heritage that spans generations.
Australia’s coastal communities have long been holiday Meccas for Aussie families from all walks of life, with recreational fishing playing a huge role in the activity menu of each trip.
At almost every opportunity—long weekends, school holidays, even standard summer weekends—holiday accommodation fills and the populations of these small towns temporarily swell. Businesses swing into top gear and the pulse of these small communities accelerates. It’s at these times many the towns make their living.
A group or family visiting a small coastal community for their fix of relaxation, fun and fishing will bless the bank accounts of an astounding array of local businesses. These are likely to include holiday accommodation, tackle stores, cafes, newsagents, petrol stations, grocery stores, post offices, boat and equipment hire businesses and pubs (you’ve got to do your local research somewhere). The knock-on and multiplier affect of all this spending is significant.
An industry under threat
When you sit back and consider the ebb and flow of Aussie cash in pursuit of our fishy friends, you begin to realise that we are a part of something very big. Australia’s army of recreational anglers need to recognise that they belong to a vibrant and growing industry. We are an integral part of an economic and social asset that is booming.
Yet our pastime is increasingly under threat from authorities, bureaucracies and special interest groups that fail to acknowledge us as a serious, viable industry. Instead, we’re treated as a bunch of casual tourists and hobbyists who conveniently spend money in their various jurisdictions.
Why aren’t we taken seriously? Because we don’t communicate our needs, desires and demands as a single, united entity. We don’t have a voice. We really need to embrace our role in this industry and stop floating around like isolated hobbyists, each doing our own thing and trusting in the great Aussie tradition of “she’ll be right, mate”. Until we begin lobbying, communicating, presenting and behaving like a coherent industry, we will never be perceived and treated like one… regardless of our significance.
Importance versus power
Can you imagine what would happen to the economy if the recreational fishing industry folded? Not just the economies of the myriad small coastal towns so dependent on the fishing tourist dollar (the failure of our industry would render these virtually unviable), but to the nation’s economy as a whole?
The ABS Year Book Australia 2003 states: “It is estimated that over five million Australians take part in recreational fishing in Australia as a leisure activity. Recreational fishing also supports about 90,000 Australian jobs.”
The book goes on to explain that: “Recreational fishing is particularly important from a regional perspective, with significant flow-on benefits, such as providing employment opportunities in the tackle, boating, tourism, fishing charter and associated industries in many coastal and rural areas. Most of Australia’s recreational fishing is undertaken along the coast and estuaries of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, reflecting both the excellent fishing areas and the geographic spread of Australia’s population.”1
Our expenditure as anglers is not exactly modest, either. According to the Australian National Sportfishing Association, the recreational fishing industry in Australia back in 2001 was worth over $2.9bn per annum. Based on participation figures, it’s likely that over 60 per cent of this expenditure will have been directly related our estuarine fisheries. That puts the annual spend on recreational fishing in Australian estuaries alone, excluding any flow-on impacts, in the vicinity of $1.7bn… and that was 12 years ago. The figure is certain to have increased significantly since then.2
An Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report of the number of people engaged in various recreational activities during 1999-2000 revealed that recreational fishing ranked fifth highest in terms of participation rates amongst the 50 activities surveyed3… Little wonder that debates surrounding rec’ fishing legislation are so often passionate and vigorous, even if those debates aren’t necessarily coherent and well-organised.
With well over a decade having passed since these ABS figures were collated, it’s fair to assume that there are even greater numbers participating in our pastime today. As more and more women like myself pick up the rod and embrace recreational fishing, while also encouraging their kids to do the same, these figures must surely be ballooning. Old notions of a male-only angling fraternity are fading (happily) as entire families join the rec’ fishing community. One result is a further loosening of the purse strings when it comes to spending on fishing-related activities.
There’s simply no denying the value of the recreational fishing industry to the Australian economy, as well as to our culture and lifestyle. Our importance is occasionally acknowledged in political and bureaucratic rhetoric, but it’s true power has been neither recognised nor harnessed.
The big stick
In 2000-01, the NSW government conducted a survey to assess the participation rates and economic value of recreational fishing to that state’s economy. The report asserted that there were one million recreational fishers in NSW at the time, representing approximately 17.1 per cent of the total population. By far the strongest participation rate was on the state’s south coast, where more than 30.1 per cent of the population fished for recreation. The north coast wasn’t far behind, 29.9 per cent.4
The report also discovered that all of those fishers spent more than $550 million per year on fishing related expenses. That’s a fair pile of pesos pouring into the state’s coffers… and this was 13 years ago!
Given these figures, it’s especially surprising that NSW lags behind when it comes to protecting its rec’ fishing resources and interests. Wouldn’t you think that those sorts of dollars would be a big enough stick to command some respect?
While the picture isn’t perfect anywhere, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have all taken massive steps in recent years to ensure the ongoing viability of their recreational fishing industries, clearly recognising the sector’s capacity to continue driving revenue. So, what is happening in Queensland and New South Wales?
It seems that the commercial fishing industry—whilst in decline almost everywhere in terms of participation rates, revenue generation and overall importance to society— has the ear of the decision makers, particularly in NSW and Queensland. Their stick is bigger than ours. It’s clearly not about pesos… it’s about unity and lobbying skills. It comes back to the perception of these competing industries in the eyes of the decision makers. Ours clearly needs to stand up.
You do the sums
A report on the fishing industry provided by Ocean Watch states that commercial fishing within the NSW jurisdiction is currently worth more than $90 million at initial market sale values. According to the same report, the entire commercial seafood industry—including commercial fishers, fish farmers, oyster growers, wholesalers, retailers and even marketers—employs around 4,000 people directly in the Premier State.5
The same report quotes figures from the Survey of Recreational Fishing in New South Wales conducted on behalf of NSW DPI in 2000-01, which states that, at that time, there were 1 million recreational anglers in NSW who spent an average of $550 per year on their fishing habit. (I personally spend a lot more than that, but I expect that there are many others who don’t and so this figure, although surprisingly low in my opinion, may stack up.) Taken on face value, this report suggests that the recreational fishing industry of NSW generated $550 million revenue per annum over a decade ago.
Finding accurate or indicative employment figures for the recreational fishing industry seems impossible, but given the size of the revenue it generates, you can bet that there’s more than 4,000 jobs involved.
So, help me out here… I’ve never professed to be a mathematical genius, but it seems glaringly obvious to me that far more revenue is generated and many more jobs created by the recreational fishing industry in NSW (and no doubt right across Australia), than from the commercial fishing industry, right?
I know where I’d be investing if I were managing the economy.
As a recent migrant from the wild barramundi rivers of the Northern Territory, I’ve been frequently gob-smacked by the apparent disregard shown for the recreational fishing industry by those in charge of my new home waters here in NSW.
Where I come from, recreational fishing is recognised by those on both sides of the political fence as an immensely valuable asset. As in Queensland, the mighty barramundi is an enormous tourism drawcard in the Top End, and studies have consistently shown that a free-swimming wild barra is of far greater economic value than a netted and filleted one. In fact, estimates of the direct cost or expenditure for recreational fishers targeting barramundi in Queensland, including travel costs, suggest a value of approximately $51 per recreational fish landed (and often released), compared to around $19 per commercially-killed barra (based on a fish weight of 3 kg). That particular study goes further and estimates the flow-on or multiplier effects to the state and regional economies in Queensland from recreational barramundi fishers to be approximately threefold. So, according to Rutledge et al. (1990), a single barramundi caught by a recreational fisher could be worth as much as $153 to the economy of Queensland… and that value remains the same even if the fish is returned to the water alive! 2
So why is it that the decision makers in NSW and Queensland, in particular, seem to continually disregard and even undermine recreational fishing in favour of the declining commercial sector? Certainly, they trot out rhetoric to the contrary. The NSW Department of Primary Industry (DPI), for example, espouses that it “recognises the social and economic importance of recreational fishing to coastal towns and understands the activity is a significant part of coastal tourism. Various economic studies in NSW have shown the economic benefits of recreational fishing”6. However, I’d suggest that the NSW DPI lacks a genuine understanding of the economic realities. This lack of understanding is clearly demonstrated when they continue to impose tighter and tighter restrictions on the activities of recreational anglers (in the name of protecting stocks) while failing to mirror these restrictions in the commercial sector. It’s very clear who they see as their masters, and it’s certainly not us!
As quota-free commercial netting in our fragile estuaries continues to be endorsed and encouraged by the NSW government (even in tiny, land-locked lakes and lagoons that receive no recruitment of stock from the ocean for years on end), the perceptions and daily experiences of recreational anglers point to declining catches. The quality of the recreational fishing experience is severely diminished in those waters: to the point where many anglers are simply giving up.
Despite loud and passionate debate over the issue, the NSW Minister for Fisheries continues to suggest that fishers should “sort it out amongst themselves”! This hardly sounds like a Minister with an understanding of the actual comparative values of the two industries, nor like a Minister with a genuine desire to protect the resources covered by her portfolio. In truth, it sounds more like a patronising parent choosing to ignore squabbling siblings.
The recreational fishing industry deserves more than this—and I’m sure most of Australia’s five million recreational anglers agree.
More than the money
Let’s take a step away from the comparative economics and hard dollars of these industries for a moment and look instead the social impacts and benefits of both:
As mentioned earlier, the commercial fishing sector employs far fewer people than the recreational industry. However, the recreational fishing sector is more than an employer. It’s also an entertainer, a health and well-being facilitator, an educator about nature and conservation, and a promoter of family values.
Surprisingly, there seems to have been very little research done into the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing, but I was able to find one very interesting report by Prof A. McManus, Dr W. Hunt, J. Storey and J. White entitled “Identifying the health and well-being benefits of recreational fishing”, written in 2011.
Participants in the research indicated that there were several social, physical, mental health and well-being benefits to be gained from recreational fishing, with a particular emphasis on relaxation and stress relief. When asked to further define these benefits, there was a significant focus on familial bonding.
The research report is extensive and fascinating, but too lengthy to paraphrase here. On the issue of mental health, however, it does state the following:
“Motivations for recreational fishing vary, however the social aspects plus the ability to relax and unwind remain the main reasons why Australians partake in recreational fishing. Stress is a major factor in most chronic conditions. The health benefits of reductions in stress and anxiety are evident in the literature, however few studies explore the direct link between recreational fishing and chronic condition management and fewer still attempt to quantify these benefits. There is however, ample anecdotal evidence linking recreational fishing to mental health benefits.”7
The study concludes, “that considerable health and well-being benefits can be gained through involvement in recreational fishing. Encouraging young children, youth, adults and families to fish offers healthful outdoors recreational activity that can be enjoyed throughout life. Benefits were evident for individuals and groups. Recreational fishing also provides significantly benefits to children and youth with behavioural and mental health issues.
“The major benefits identified were: youth development; social support; good mental health outcomes; behavioural management; rehabilitation of upper body musculoskeletal injury; and reductions in stress and anxiety. Seniors can also gain significant health benefits by continuing to remain active both physically and mentally through this enjoyable, low cost outdoor pursuit. Intergenerational transfer of knowledge and skills from seniors to younger generations is another major benefit that should be exploited by recreational fishing groups.” 7
If the researchers are correct, then the continued disregard of the recreational fishing industry as a vital part of the socio-economic fabric of our community will reverberate negatively in more ways than governments and bureaucrats can possibly imagine.
If decision makers in NSW and Queensland, in particular, continue to prioritise commercial fishing to the detriment of the recreational fishing industry, they are likely to experience more than a loss in revenue and jobs and the decline of coastal communities. They could also experience spikes in stress-related mental health issues as not only those who lose their livelihoods feel the pressure, but also the many anglers who currently use their fishing as a form of stress relief from their day-to-day lives. The adverse social impacts could well be dramatic.
To the victor the spoils
Sadly, the negative impacts of a continued emphasis on maintaining commercial fisheries to the detriment (actual and perceived) of the recreational sector, especially in NSW and Queensland, are very real.
As an example, a recent discussion on Facebook posed the question to eastern seaboard-based recreational anglers about the quality of their fishing experiences in NSW over recent years. Several respondents suggested that since Victoria had removed commercial netting from many of its estuaries, the fishing had surpassed that available in NSW. As a result, some respondents had already switched their regular, holiday fishing destination to Victoria. Clearly, the Victorian government’s decision to nurture recreational fishing assets is already showing significant returns on investment.
Let’s hope that the power brokers in all states (including NSW and Queensland) and also the new federal government come to recognise the value of recreational fishing to Australia—not only to our economy, but also to our social well-being as a nation.
Such recognition needs to be driven directly by us, the individual, avid anglers of Australia. Recognising our own worth and pulling together in defence of our fishing rights is vital to ensure our kids can carry on our traditions. So, let’s not sit back and believe others will fight our battles or that “she’ll be right”. Let’s stand up in support of the organisations that carry our concerns to government and lobby with unity and passion.
E
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