Freshwater Fishing Licence Joke
If I want to take my family camping to do some freshwater fishing one weekend I need to take out a freshwater fishing licence for anyone who is going to have a rod in the water at any stage. I may do this once a year and fisheries expect me to pay for $140 worth of licences for something I may only use for a morning or afternoon fish. Bugger it, I'll just head down to Busselton/Dunsborough again and chase salt water fish. I've had a look at the other states and this is what you have to pay:
Western Australia
Marron fishing $40
Recreational fishing from boat $30
South-west freshwater angling $40
Concession at 50% for under 16
Queensland
•$8.00 per week
•$40.00 per year
•$35.00 per year if you are entitled to a discount*
You only need 1 SIP permit per couple (married or de facto), and those under 18 do not need a permit.
New South Wales
$7 - 3 days
$14 - 1 month
$35 - 1 year
$85 - 3 years
People under the age of 18 are exempt from paying the recreational fishing fee.
Victoria
Victorian anglers now have the option to buy a three-year Recreational Fishing Licence for $66. This presents a saving of $7.50 on the combined cost of purchasing three annual licences. Anglers can still buy the one-year RFL for $24.50, the 28-day RFL for $12, and the 2-day RFL for $6.
You will not need a licence to fish if you are:
•under 18 years of age;
•70 years of age or over;.
South Australia
No licence required
Tasmania
Very complicated but 48 hour licence is $22: https://www.ifs.tas.gov.au/ols/pricing
Northern Territory
No licence required
Australian Capital Territory
No licence required
I know we are in a backward state sometimes but surely it wouldn't be that hard to apply a sensible fee structure to encourage families to spend time together and not to mention the tourism boost to our less popular rural areas. I'm gonna take this one up with my local member as well as the Fisheries Minister and MLA of areas that could do with a tourism boost and see how far I can take it.
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pale ale
Posts: 1755
Date Joined: 02/01/10
whats the fine? risk it!
whats the fine? risk it!
Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
Just a guess...
...but if he takes his entire family fishing with no licences, the fine would be multiplied by each family member...probably a tad more than $140.
I thought they had daily/weekly licences available...pretty silly if they don't.
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Mate a little confused. Fresh
Mate a little confused. Fresh water lic is $40. How do you get $140? Is it 2 adults and 3kids?
I agree its a little stiff, but then our fishery is pretty well managed compared to other states, and its one big ass state at that.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8048
Date Joined: 07/05/12
All my kids are under 16 mate
All my kids are under 16 mate so only pay $20 each for them.
The kicker is that the only species I can really hope to catch close to Perth is Redfin Perch which fisheries want me to kill to protect the waterways they seeminly don't keep well stocked.
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mc
Posts: 91
Date Joined: 10/09/13
Visited mallacoota last year,
Visited mallacoota last year, was impressed you could buy a cheap license for a few days or a month if you were staying longer. Even more impressed at the facilities around the inlet, stainless steel filleting boards with running water and bins everywhere. Agree they manage things ok here but wish we had more of those at all the popular fishing spots considering how much we pay.
greatrex
Posts: 210
Date Joined: 29/08/11
Surely it would be the same
Surely it would be the same as the boat fishing licence. You can all fish but only keep one licenses worth of bag limits
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8048
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Nah I asked specifically
Nah I asked specifically about my 2 year old who will want to have a turn for about three casts before he cracks it and was told you need to have a licence to even have a line in the water. Yes commonsense would likely prevail if fisheries came down to check but the situation should not become an issue in the first place.
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Auslobster
Posts: 1901
Date Joined: 03/05/08
How, exactly,....
...is the WA freshwater fishery "well-managed"? Their rules:
Kill every carp/redfin you catch.
You can catch marron but the season for catching them in public waters lasts what, 18 minutes.
If you're REALLY lucky, you might get a foot-long trout.
And, as an adult, we'll stick you $40-$80 for the privilege.
Don't even TRY to compare it to the eastern states.
My point is, proper management requires proper research, not some nanny state mentality which pretty much prohibits anyone from doing anything and getting charged for it.
petermac
Posts: 2946
Date Joined: 03/03/10
who ever said
who ever said the marron season lasts 18 minutes (sic) obviously doesn't have any mates from Collie haha
Bunny
Posts: 678
Date Joined: 05/08/10
Not wanting to rub salt in
Not wanting to rub salt in the wound but those QLD numbers posted are only for freshwater stocked impoundments. Other freshwaters are free.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8048
Date Joined: 07/05/12
I didn't even want to get
I didn't even want to get into the issue of whether I need to get my 2y old a fishing from boat licence to use his freshwater fishing licence from the dinghy.
To be fiar, the girl I was chatting to at fisheries was actually really nice and being a QLD girl herself cannot believe the way the freshwater licences are setup here. Said she's forwarded on complaints regarding it in the past and it falls on deaf ears at the management level. She sounded pretty happy when I said I was going to take it to my local MLA.
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stricko
Posts: 222
Date Joined: 10/05/10
yea fisheries wa is a pay
yea fisheries wa is a pay before you play for sure don't believe any over states have the same anti catchrules as us its a bit of a joke we fund it and put up with it
sea-kem
Posts: 14853
Date Joined: 30/11/09
I still don't get the whole
I still don't get the whole boat fishos have to pay but land based don't apart from what you state above. Not much to whinge about IMO you have a whole coast to fish from for free.
Love the West!
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8048
Date Joined: 07/05/12
RFFB, freshwater fishing,
RFFB, freshwater fishing, abolone and marron licences are all a sweet litle topup for the government for people that may use them once a year. I was going to suggest it might be used toward boat infrastructure but that is a different govt department and the RFFB licence probably goes toward the extensive research for subjects like the dwindling herring stocks
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sea-kem
Posts: 14853
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Ha ha and the good fairies
Ha ha and the good fairies will do all my work today, it'll never happen but should!
Love the West!
randall df223
Posts: 6454
Date Joined: 08/08/11
I still ask why do we have
I still ask why do we have one licence (as in the actual piece of plastic) for driving a car, another for owning a firearm, another for driving a boat, another to fish, another to own an exotic or native animal as a pet....
wouldn't it be cheaper to have one piece of plastic with all the different licences listed?
Fish! HARD!
Rob H
Posts: 5745
Date Joined: 18/01/12
I can see why not for
I can see why not for fishing licences (different expiry, only 12 months etc) but firearms?
WA police tell me its because they dont want to "normalise" gun ownership
Give a man a mask, and he'll show you his true face...
The older you get the more you realize that no one has a f++king clue what they're doing.
Everyone's just winging it.
lachieH
Posts: 1126
Date Joined: 02/03/13
Can u crab off a dinghy in
Can u crab off a dinghy in the river without a license?
and yeah I don't really have a point of veiw on the issue but I did wanna try and get a redfin 1 weekend to find out that I need to pay $40 for me and dad which ends up as $80.
but I have fished for a couple never payed a dollar for fishing in the river in a kayak or land.
Fishing the swan for bream, it's just an obsession
crasny1
Posts: 6986
Date Joined: 16/10/08
Nope, you cant
If you crab from any craft including a kayak etc you need a FFBL. Only way you can fish from a boat without a FFBL is if the activity has already got a licence attached, ie you can catch crays in pots without a FFBL if you have a cray licence, but then you cant fish any other activity.
"I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact!!" _ Elon Musk
grantarctic1
Posts: 2546
Date Joined: 03/03/11
Can you
Can you show the source of this info ? As far as I can see in the reg's, A kayak is not a powered boat unless you put a motor on it ( this includes electric motors )
The reg's state you need a Recreational boat fishing license if fishing from a powered boat/ vessel.
lachieH
Posts: 1126
Date Joined: 02/03/13
Yeah because I went crabbing
Yeah because I went crabbing off the kayak a few times. Hoping I wasn't breaking the law lol
Fishing the swan for bream, it's just an obsession
sexton
Posts: 112
Date Joined: 15/05/13
Only need a boat fishing
Only need a boat fishing licence for when fishing under a powered boat or what not. As long as the kayak doesn't have an outboard on it then you don't need a licence to fish from it.
Our fresh water scene is pretty dismal to say the least, would love to see some native fish such as the likes of bass, yellowbelly and cod stocked into our dams but I don't think it'll ever happen. I'd like to think that maybe it may become a reality but that's just wishful thinking.
Poltergeist
Posts: 159
Date Joined: 03/12/13
I agree Jack the current
I agree Jack the current situation with freshwater fishing in this state is a joke. How can fisheries expect you to pay to go fishing for Redfin which they state is a pest and must not be returned to the water?? What makes it even more of a joke is you have to pay top $$ for your licence to fish for a pest whilst the other states pay less and get annual stockings of over 7 million fingerlings of top class Australian Native sport fish like Murray Cod, Yellowbelly, Australian Bass etc etc. Sure fisheries stock a few trout here and there but the number of waters where they are now stocked is a fraction of what it once was thanks to the greenies and the backward rules of the water authority.
Currently almost 10000 freshwater fishing licences are sold every year in WA and the numbers increase every year yet the opportunties for the sport continue to decline. The proposal to stock Wellington Dam with a worthwhile sport fish could be the start of something although I wouldnt hold your breath.
I have been freshwater fishing in WA for over 35 years and have only twice seen a fisheries officer and only once asked to show my licence. I told the guy it was in the car (which it was) and he wasnt interested in me showing it to him. I know that the majority of the keen Redfin fishermen in country towns dont bother to buy licences as they know that outside of marron season they are never going to see a fisheries officer. The only times I have seen them were at the beginning of September when the trout season opens.
meglodon
Posts: 5981
Date Joined: 17/06/10
Here's a conunderam for you
All around the metro area there are a large number of artificial lakes, ponds, drainage areas etc that hold large numbers of declared vermin fish species, (and in some cases not pests species in my view) like carp, gold fish, redfin, cichlids.
Quite recently after this fact became well known just about every shire town council very quickly erected "no fishing" signs.
Why the hell no fishing for these crap species which are classified as vermin. The only answer I have been able to get from any council official has been " we don't want to be liable for a drowning if some one falls in the lakes.
What a load of crap!!!!
With that type of mentality the whole estuary and ocean should be fenced off with cyclone fencing topped with razor wire.
We have to pay a not insignificant fee to catch and destroy these fish in rivers etc where the councils and shires are obviously not worried about us falling in and drowning in our hundreds but to do the same thing (fish)in the metro area is completely a no no we (anglers) could hurt ourselves, god give me strength.
I could think of no better way to introduce people to fresh water fishing, and as a side benefit getting rid of vermin fish (which my shire actually pays some one to do). The shire could also introduce a small fee to fish the ponds lakes whatever.
But no, as has also been said to me. "this would cause damage to the banks", to which I replied ok, but what about the people who walk up to the edge of the water to just have a look in. Response "we try to discourage that"
I know I have wondered of the subject a bit, but I think fisheries and others are missing out on a cheap bit of revenue by not introducing a day licence to fish for vermin fish in the metro area and I know this is heresy but citizens might be able to actually have some fun.
God forgive me for saying that.