Recfishwest again
Submitted by Moondog on Thu, 2023-10-26 19:43
What a weak organisation. When will they use the power of 750,000 members for good? only have to look at a few thousand farmers that were going to March on parliament against the aboriginal heritage laws. The government shit themselves and have promised to repeal the law. What would happen if a few thousand fishers towed their boats through the city to parliament??
Let's hope the weak organisation called recfishwest or people connected to them read this.
rob90
Posts: 1526
Date Joined: 06/02/13
Barking up the wrong tree in
Barking up the wrong tree in my opinion. Pretty sure the blame lies with the rouge minister that fisheries are playing as a puppet.
Hi my name is rob............. and I'm a........... fishaholic
Pete F
Posts: 310
Date Joined: 07/01/18
Not even sure it's fisheries
Not even sure it's fisheries playing the puppet, he just has no idea about the subject matter and listing to the wrong advisers. Ignoring any good advice. If he was listening to Recfishwest this would not had happened.
Cheers
Bradmac73
Posts: 201
Date Joined: 22/03/17
Agree
Completely agree Rob, Punch is well entrenched with the minority green leftists and is taking no advice from anyone but them. There's a growing list if instances where he has ignored the readily available scientific research in favour of his own or one of his green mates opinion.
Ministers are not always experts on the portfilio they are responsible for, nor should they be expected to be, but the decent ones acknowledge that and seek expert advice. The biggest issue with Punch is his arrogance in continually looking to legislate to suit his own opinion over scientific evidence.
Like it or not, Don's greens have played this very well in taking the piecemeal approach to the erosion of fishing rights and extensions of restrictions. To the general non fishing public these things all looks to be reasonable, but put them all toegther and you see the real significance of the impact.
Recfishwest should certainly be lobbying harder for the recreational sector and highlighting the cumulatiive effect of these constant changes rather than tackling each separately.
In summary, he needs to be removed, but takes a fair bit of noise for that to be considered.
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
Recfishwest are supposed to
Recfishwest are supposed to look after the rec fisherman. All these rubbish laws are affecting the recfisherman, instead of organising and putting pressure on the government they send out emails speaking bullshit.
robert1979
Posts: 224
Date Joined: 13/05/12
Have a look at their last
Have a look at their last annual report. Income of about $3m, spent 400k on projects versus $1.8m on salaries. It doesn't take 1.8m worth of people to administer 400k of projects.
Swompa
Posts: 3881
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Hopefully they are banking a
Hopefully they are banking a bit of cash to do something major.
I signed up as a member at the boat show for $10...and got a halco lure worth $10.
I thought it was value but dont really expect much from Recfish west.
When the government has an absoloute majority they dont need to consult with lobby groups.
As much as I liked what Mark did during covid and has absoloute push to make WA great, i didnt vote for Labor because I know with an absoloute majority, they would just do what they wanted.
Jamie-Chester
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 28/07/10
Love those stats. Did they
Love those stats. Did they break down individual salaries?
Saulty2
Posts: 656
Date Joined: 28/05/10
imo
punch has bunkered down and will hammer us , cooookeeeee is weak and is really not up to the task , all pollies want to be re elected and will only give an inch if they feel vunerable , change will only happen if we stand our ground and say enough is enough
squidvicious1
Posts: 824
Date Joined: 22/07/10
Don't think reckfishwest has
Don't think reckfishwest has 750,000 members,that's the number of angler licenses issued. You have to pay seperate fee like swompa.
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
Members is probably the wrong
Members is probably the wrong word. Recfish say they represent the interests of 750,000 fishers on their website. The email list would be huge and surely they could organise a rally or 2 like what happened over in NSW with the rec fishers against the marine park lockouts and bans in 2018.
Wayne77
Posts: 59
Date Joined: 10/12/15
thank any one who voted
thank any one who voted Labor these clowns have absolutly F@cked wa up for all active outdoor types 4 wheel drive and camping acces coming next
Bodgy 79
Posts: 286
Date Joined: 04/08/22
You must be very intelligent
You must be very intelligent to blurt out that comment.Well done you for anticipating all these changes were inevitable
Rob H
Posts: 5796
Date Joined: 18/01/12
Did you even vote?
Did you even vote?
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.
sea-kem
Posts: 14972
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Yep the Libs were
Yep the Libs were better https://fishingworld.com.au/news/widespread-anger-at-wa-law-changes/
Love the West!
Jamie-Chester
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 28/07/10
haha - people arguing over
haha - people arguing over whats worse - diarrhea or dysentery.
Jamie-Chester
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 28/07/10
haha - people arguing over
haha - people arguing over whats worse - diarrhea or dysentery.
sea-kem
Posts: 14972
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Lol yep, about the sum of
Lol yep, about the sum of it.
Love the West!
Bodgy 79
Posts: 286
Date Joined: 04/08/22
I voted how about you ?
I voted how about you ?
Rob H
Posts: 5796
Date Joined: 18/01/12
who is this to? as its not
who is this to? as its not attached to anyones comment.
Not sure if maybe you arent aware that the way mine is inset and parallel to yours, we are both replying to Wayne.
If mine was inset from yours it would have been a reply to yours?
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.
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
The pressure was put on this
The pressure was put on this majority government by the farmers and they succeeded. Why can't us rec fishers do the same? Rec fish email list would be a good start to getting something organised but they will sit quietly in the office and send out an email saying our feelings are hurt and we have had a meeting with Donny boy and nothing happened.
stricko
Posts: 224
Date Joined: 10/05/10
Afraid to say buy that's
Afraid to say buy that's about the size of it.maybe a case of don't bite the hand that feeds all the more reason we need a independent body as our spokesman.
Saulty2
Posts: 656
Date Joined: 28/05/10
did the farmers
have an independant body? imo untill we view cookeee -punch as our enemy then we are pushing it up hill!
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
easy to bag shit on anyone
easy to bag shit on anyone when you dont like the results that the gov or minister legislate,
but truth is most rec fishers are apathetic, they dont get involved for too long at any deep level , they piss and moan for a 2 to 4 week period about the proposal then move on and accept it ,,
dont agree with that prove me wrong and try to get a large group of over 10 00o of them to attend a rally against this new change ,, see how you go
fact is the gov was voted in by a large majority of west aussies who though they wanted change from the lib/nats ,, well you who voted for them have got the ''change '' so dont cry if its not what you wanted ,, or expected
all this punch idiot needed to do was ban offal or mammal products in burley or make shake fishing after 8pm till dawn ,,
but is easy when you have absolute power to make blanket bans ,, , expect more till there voted out
while im posting , think carefully before you agree to a cashless society ,, think your controlled now ,, this is just the tip of the berg imo
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
Swompa
Posts: 3881
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Farmers got up because it is
Farmers got up because it is their livelihood.
Fishing for most is a recreation and you can still fish year round.
Jamie-Chester
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 28/07/10
Hezzy if covid taught me
Hezzy if covid taught me anything its that people generally are spineless, lazy, self absorbed and compliant. Swiping a card is soooo much easier mate than using cash right?
piscetor
Posts: 185
Date Joined: 13/05/16
shark fishing
I don't do it but some people do and probably not that many. what punch and those other morons don't understand is ------ SHARKS come into the shallows at night to hunt. Tigers especially as they like to hunt sting rays that come into shallow water to hunt crabs and shell fish. Burly isnt attributing a thing as far as pulling them in close to shore all it does is bring them close to the bait. I don't know about you guys but sharks like snakes are only good when there dead. They stopped commersial shark fishing and now they hve breed up in numbers. If you get what you wish for don't bitch and stop other people doing what they enjoy. the fishers are not doing anything wrong in catching the sharks, probably the oppiste once caught the sharks might think twice before hanging around the area, there fish but i don't think they are dumb. Well they aren't politicians for a start.
Filletmaster
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8144
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Why don't you organise a
Why don't you organise a rally?
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
I don't have an email list of
I don't have an email list of a few hundred thousand people!
Rob H
Posts: 5796
Date Joined: 18/01/12
surely thats not the only
surely thats not the only thing stopping you?
Plenty of ways around that in this day and age, but as you've realised I guess, it takes effort.
98% of fishers are happy to just point the finger and say "someone should have done something" sadly
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.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8144
Date Joined: 07/05/12
So start your own grass roots
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
You are telling me to start
You are telling me to start a grass roots movement to do the job recfishwest should be doing? Recfishwest have all the infrastructure and means to do everything you have stated while being paid a wage. They like to send out an email saying they disagree with rules and that's as far as they go. Plenty of forum topics and comments in here as well as discussion in the rec community about how unhappy the rec fishers are with all these new rules.
Would be easier if they just spat an email out saying these are the new rules, We get paid a good wage so we will pretend we care but in reality we aren't going to jeopardise our jobs and here's a picture of a guy holding a fish at the bottom of the email.
Swompa
Posts: 3881
Date Joined: 14/10/12
Spot on there with yor last
Spot on there with yor last paragraph
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8144
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Nah just saying that if you
Nah just saying that if you are that passionate about a rally then there are options outside of relying on RFW
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
scotto
Posts: 2470
Date Joined: 21/04/08
union
I wonder how we'd go if there was a rec fisherman's union, where we as recs we paid membership fees, but employed louder representatives, and got better results?
Bradmac73
Posts: 201
Date Joined: 22/03/17
Agree with the sentiment
Union is not really possible as the strength of a union is built around the influence that can be asserted by industrial action employees can take. As rec fishermen the problem is we don't really have much of a position of strength as the only influence we have is via a vote at a general election every 4 years or so and hope thre incoming government has enough interest to change things.
What we need is a decent lobbyist group, which is what recfishwest is supposed to be, but isn't. the strength of an effective lobbyist is their independance from decision makers which is not the case with recfishwest.
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
brad mac73, you have nailed
brad mac73, you have nailed it in your post mate ,,, ... you are totally correct,
recfishwest can only be as strong and effective as the strength and backing power of its members , same as a union , , there independent enough , but they and the gov know they dont really have any power lever to pull and imediatly call to arms any thousands of members to create a big push back on the gov or the minister , ..they heavily rely on their networking and relationships as they dont have the muscle to exeert when they might wish to
why is that ?/ comes back to recfishers just not being militant enough in big enough numbers for recfishwest to utilise , they know it and so does the gov , and rec fishers are really to blame for the demise of their own freedoms , partly due to the red neck minority doing dumb shite, , largely due to their own apathy expecting someone else to protect them and stop a rule change they dont like , and being self interested, rock fishos , divers, boaties, netters, crabbers, rock lobster , abalone, demersals , all to easy to divide and roll over on these single groups
dont believe me ?? how many of the roughly 150000 licences holders in wa do you think spend 2 hours or more a year , either calling , meeting or emailing any gov minister or dept or recfishwest to show their strength and volunteer their time or effort etc ?/ think i know the answer , and so do you guys
hence you reap what your sow
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
Bradmac73
Posts: 201
Date Joined: 22/03/17
Agree 100%
SPot on Hezzy, I had posted earlier on the incremental nature of these restrictions, and the divide and conquer approach you raise is also a good point.
Would be interesting to know the numbers of representations local members and the Minister recieved upon announcing the 6 month demersal ban, I know I wrote to my local member, the Minister and opposition, but agree with you that many probably didn't. These days subtle representation doesn't seem to have much impact anyway outside of makig them repsond with a pro forma response that doesn't cover any of the issues raised.
With a dearth of recfishers willing or able to rally in a more noisy fashion, we get shouted down by the greenies puching this agenda, who are clearly much better organised than rec fishers.
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
This is why I keep asking
This is why I keep asking this question. Why can't recfishwest organise a rally or at least get a survey of people willing to rally? Emails to ministers don't work. Don punch said he would reply within 6 weeks, I still haven't heard from him a year later, same as Mcgowan. Recfishwest say they have they interests of 750,000 rec fishers, well let's see some action from them. It is exactly like what hezzy said it's all incremental steps.
Am I wrong in saying don't spruik the numbers of rec fishers if you won't work for them?
Alan James
Posts: 2223
Date Joined: 30/06/09
...
Recfishwest have been involved in past rallies in WA. Open link below.
http://fishwrecked.com/forum/photos-keep-australia-fishing-rally
Read the comments and you will see it was poorly supported by the typically apathetic rec fishermen. And yes, I was there.
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
Thanks for the link Alan and
Thanks for the link Alan and thank you for going. I wasn't aware this had happened 10+ years ago. Good to see a few people on here turned up, most notably sea-kem. Are recfish disenchanted because of the last rally and turnout? Could it possibly be done better? On a weekend? With social media being more prevalent now could it get a better turn out?
Alan James
Posts: 2223
Date Joined: 30/06/09
...
Personally I don't think a weekday was the best plan. However I appreciate that people are busy at weekends with family, hobbies and entertainment.
The Greens will always out do rec fisherman. A few years ago when there was talk of a shark cull, drum lines etc the greens mustered 6,000 people to a rally with about 2 days notice, impressive.
Pete F
Posts: 310
Date Joined: 07/01/18
Apathy only 3000 people
Apathy only 3000 people support the WA Recreational Family Fishing Alliance on face book. If there not willing to click a like to help, how likely are they to turn up at a rally.
Cheers
Rob H
Posts: 5796
Date Joined: 18/01/12
yeah Pete, it is rife.Seems
yeah Pete, it is rife.
Seems its easier for some to point to who/what they think is to blame, than to actually do something practical.
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.
Jackfrost80
Posts: 8144
Date Joined: 07/05/12
Never underestimate the power
Never underestimate the power of social media posts over tangible legwork mate
Officially off the Pies bandwagon
Bradmac73
Posts: 201
Date Joined: 22/03/17
Double post
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
Labor party do love a union.
Labor party do love a union. Would the labor government be more lenient if they were getting brown paper bags from a fishing union like they do from every other union?
sea-kem
Posts: 14972
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Lol they are controlled by
Lol they are controlled by the unions.
Love the West!
Moondog
Posts: 131
Date Joined: 25/06/18
China will have a say in
China will have a say in this
still trying
Posts: 1051
Date Joined: 27/06/17
Agree with everyone but the
Agree with everyone but the power of a union in the past has been a strike, what are we going to do stop fishing? I understand we could all refuse to pay fees? Due to lack of support for the rec fisherman.
rather be fishing
piscetor
Posts: 185
Date Joined: 13/05/16
fees
What pisses me off is we have to pay for a rec fishing license but shore fishers don't and then catch fish all year round.
We are paying the license for their benifit. Its bullshit. Plus the fee for boat rego are way to high. It wouldn;t matter if we got some benifit from them but it appears it doesn't happen. i spoke to harbour and lights about pricks speed through the channel at Bent street and they said it has nothing to do with them, it's the councils problem.WTF!
Filletmaster
Jamie-Chester
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 28/07/10
Hezzy you nailed it.The
Hezzy you nailed it.
The amount of submissions Ive written and shit Ive tried to do....and no one does anything to back me.
In peoples defence everyone is busy....and thats the way the powers that are like it. And without a massive pushback government will just let us eat cake.
Jamie-Chester
Posts: 116
Date Joined: 28/07/10
Hezzy you nailed it.The
Hezzy you nailed it.
The amount of submissions Ive written and shit Ive tried to do....and no one does anything to back me.
In peoples defence everyone is busy....and thats the way the powers that are like it. And without a massive pushback government will just let us eat cake.
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
thing is it is quite sad that
thing is it is quite sad that freedoms we have all enjoyed are being stripped away from us as rec fishers ,
purely due to the apathy and acceptance of the gov saying this is how it is and putting new rules into play
even worse once upon a time they did it based on a thin veneer of scientific evidence or caution that we dutifully swallowed as trustworthy to save the fish or whatever
now the minister and his dept , just make changes based on how they feel on any given matter and rec fishers like covid puppets accept it
once upon a time i belived the public would push back and stop the rot ..
now after many years i know differently ,,
sad but true ,
expect more of the rule changes coming to reduce your ability to enjoy just going fishing
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
Rob H
Posts: 5796
Date Joined: 18/01/12
agreed
agreed
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.
sunshine
Posts: 2600
Date Joined: 03/03/09
And who is paying for the Recfish TV Advertising
Seen three adds just tonight in prime time and that ain't cheap
sea-kem
Posts: 14972
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Putting our licence fees to
Putting our licence fees to good use Gordon (insert massive sarcasm)
Love the West!
stricko
Posts: 224
Date Joined: 10/05/10
Their been on a couple of
Their been on a couple of times a day on gwn just before and after the news for about a month now bit of a recruitment campaign I'd imagine a expensive one at that as a member since the beginning I would rather see the money spent elsewhere especially if there's been no spike in membership since the start of the campaign.
Lefty 44
Posts: 163
Date Joined: 04/12/17
Independant Representation
I may be incorrect but I don't believe that recfish is an indepandant represetation for fishing.
Having lived in Vic for a period of time I got to see the difference.
Lead by the major tackle retailers who also sponsored some well known (and some not) fishing shows they were able to put a lot of preasure on the state government.
They were able to increase fishing resourses, including ramp and carpark facilities and even made it an election issue ( see 1 mil fishing - Labour).
Now I appreciate that they had some media access that we don't have here as a state but this could be done on social media.
Are recfish trying to work with social media fishing influencers (for the lack of a better term)/facebook fishing pages to push our issues?
If they are I haven't seen it.
Veiws = Votes and Votes = Action.
I fully acknowledge that there are some very dedicated people working at recfish but I personally lost faith in that process years ago.
Swompa
Posts: 3881
Date Joined: 14/10/12
I dont believe they are
I dont believe they are 'modern' enough to jump on that bandwagon.
I would go as far as to say that the large majority of fisherfolk couldnt give a toss about influencers.
Billcollector
Posts: 2080
Date Joined: 16/05/09
Biggest problem Rechfishwest
Biggest problem Rechfishwest has got is the government don't give a shit about people that fish or those trying to make a living from it. They need to start getting their views out there so that the fishos can see they are trying but being ignored. We have had great results up here in Broome getting netters bought out, and are benefitting from the work done by recfishwest and others to now be seeing a fantastic fishery working how it should.
Breaksea
Posts: 22
Date Joined: 15/06/15
Not a Recfishwest issue -
Not a Recfishwest issue - More an apathetic voter issue.
Billcollecter's comment is a bit too specific - the crux of the issue is that "the government doesn't give a shit about people" in their electorates.
They just want to push their ideologies under the guise of "safety", and are willing to throw all the people doing the right thing (their current voters) under the bus, rather than focussing on the wrong-doers.
They tend to get away with it because WA voters just bend-over and take it - Recfishwest can't do anything unless voters put pressure on the government via their local ministers/representatives with the threat of lost votes and bad publicity at re-election time. Recfishwest can't exert the same "voter-pressure".
Has Moondog or anyone else whinging about Recfishwest written to their local Minister/MP?
It's not just ineffective regulation on wire-traces and ineffectivly targetted closed seasons - look at all the other initiatives where the govt has had a valid need to address an underlying issue but has then got the balance wrong/come down with a "just ban it for all" response rather than something that is effective, equitable for both rich and poor, and proportional in the cost to users vs the risk being addressed.
e.g. speed of forestry shut-down, recent (withdrawn) heritage legislation, proposed firearms reform that counters law reform commission recommendations, proposed Marine Park lock-outs between Bremer Bay and SA border, banning students from balls, graduations and other activities if they are in possesion of a vape (not if they are using it), police powers to ban "antisocial people" with no need for evidence etc.
sea-kem
Posts: 14972
Date Joined: 30/11/09
I wrote quite a detailed
I wrote quite a detailed letter to my local member (Hannah Beasley) regarding the original demersal rule changes and just got the usual generic response which was disappointing to say the least.
We are just mug voters after all
Love the West!
Pete F
Posts: 310
Date Joined: 07/01/18
And everyone got the same
And everyone got the same generic response from Punch..... I doubt any of them even got read.
Cheers
hezzy
Posts: 1521
Date Joined: 27/11/09
becuase individually they
becuase individually they will write to you with their non answers, telling you why its all in your best interests ,,, .they know there are not enough fishers that will collectively get of their bums and push back , just p and m aboutit to anyone who will listen at the bbq or facebook page etc ,,
if you want to give them push back you need to be collectivlely like the US gun lobby , nothing short of that level of pushback will be enough to stop the rot ,,
hezzy
OFW 11
evil flourishes when good men do nothing
Saulty2
Posts: 656
Date Joined: 28/05/10
labor
unions & greens works as a colective & at the moment i doubt that there is anything or anyone that can stop them as to what they want to achieve { near on a total ban on fishing } imo only time we have power is at the balot box , however if they get re elected then we will be totally stuffed , and they will say the people have spoken and implement the next phase ie. impose rules & regs. to reduce - cray fish quota , all in the name of scientific evidence .