Co-management is an arrangement whereby responsibilities and obligations for sustainable fisheries management are negotiated, shared and delegated at appropriate levels between government, recreational fishers, Aboriginal traditional fishers, the commercial fishing industry and other key stakeholders such as conservation groups (Neville 2008).

The Minister’s Recreational Fishing Advisory Council (MRFAC) was formed to improve dialogue and communication between recreational fishers and Government. The primary role of the MRFAC is to provide feedback and advice to government on recreational fishing development issues, initiatives and policies that impact the recreational fishing sector. The MRFAC strives to pursue opportunities to improve the co-management arrangements for the recreational fishery.

In 2010/11 an engagement project was undertaken by PIRSA to better understand what recreational fishing means to people and what future they want for their sector. Discussions generated consistent themes and issues of concern to recreational fishers, including sustainable fishing, ongoing access, funding and leadership, governance, education and promotion of the sector.

The outputs from this project identified opportunities for incorporating 'grass roots' input from the recreational sector into fisheries management processes in South Australia (Rowling et al. in prep) must include public consultation opportunities and participation in (1) technical working groups; (2) regional recreational committees; & (3) community forums.

This project aims to enhance these jurisdictional-based opportunities by increasing national-level capacity building opportunities for members of the South Australian community. In addition to the personal development aspect, the ability to create connections and links to the recreational community leaders from other states and territories will be invaluable to the future stewarding of the South Australian Recreational Fishing community.

The 2012/2015 & 2017 National Recreational Fishing Conferences were highly successful, enabling the recreational fishing community to gather and discuss issues of national importance. These events also catalysed four initiatives to advance fishing in Australia: development of a charter for the sector, a national fish habitat rehabilitation plan, and renewed commitment to communicating social benefits of fishing, and delivering leadership development initiatives.

The value of regular fishing sector conferences is recognised among the fishing community, and supported by FRDC, to facilitate continued progress, coordination and recognition of achievements. The next national event for the recreational fishing community is planned for 2019.

The primary aim of this event will be to engage the largest cross-section of Australia's recreational fishing community possible in discussing key issues of relevance to their sector, developing a shared vision for the future and agreeing upon strategic actions to pursue this vision. The 2019 event will be re-focused to more directly benefit grassroots recreational fishers, involving a new format, lower cost to participants, higher levels of involvement of well-known fishing personalities in the program, a focus on increased levels of participant interaction in discussions, and a series of events designed to be both informative and entertaining. The revised approach and program of this event will seek to deliver engagement of the broader recreational fishing community on a scale not previously achieved in Australia.