Nationally about 25-30% of the Australian population participates annually in recreational fishing. This equates to around 5m people.

The Fishcount survey in Northern Territory in 1995 found 0.8 million of all fish caught (43%) were released. The 1997 RFISH survey in Queensland showed that 24.4 million of all fish caught (53%) recreational were released. A similar survey in 1999 showed that 24.8 million of all fish caught (51%) were released. Rates of captured tagged fish that are released in Suntag in Queensland have risen from 38% in 1990/91 to 54% in 2000/01. The National Recreational and Indigenous Survey found that around 30% of fish caught in Australia were released. The total number of fish released nationally is not yet available although an early estimate is that about 100 million fish are caught annually by recreational fishers. The rate of survival of the released fish is unknown.

Regulation of recreational catches through bag and size limits and participation in catch and release fishing are resulting in the high level of fish being released. Where bag limits are set low (eg 2-3 fish), fishers are undertaking a form of high grading as part of their strategy to get more trophy fish. More and more Australian fisheries are becoming subject to management plans with increased regulation that reduces the numbers of fish that can be kept. Recreational fishers are also becoming more aware of the need to conserve fish stocks and are practicing catch and release as a means of minimising their own impact and maximizing the quality and enjoyment they obtain from fishing. These factors will ensure that the trend towards releasing fish continues to grow.

Information on handling fish is being distributed and used by recreational fishers but this is being done in an ad hoc manner with limited scientific input, not necessarily based on best practices and no overall objectives or delivery strategy.

As a result of this:

1) Fishers catch a lot of fish that are released, particularly undersize target species.
2) There is a considerable amount of information on fish release techniques from Australia and in particular overseas – the problem is not lack of data.
3) The key outcome is management of fisher’s behaviour to ensure they are informed and trained in best practice.
4) This requires a culture change – fisheries management is about managing people not fish.
5) This application uses a different paradigm from usual fisheries projects in that it aims to build on known information and through involvement of industry change behaviour.
6) The key R&D need is to:
a) Develop a package of communication products from known information that fits the target audience.
b) Assess the attitudes and practices of existing recreational fishers to obtain a benchmark.
c) Using a wide range of communication and extension techniques to deliver information on fish survival strategies.
d) Quantify the performance of the communication strategy and recommend changes to improve adoption.
e) Given that this initiative will involve several related projects and future investment to achieve the planned outcomes there is a need to provide a mechanism for a greater level of project management similar to what FRDC provides for a subprogram activity.
7) The strategy will have the added benefit in that it will also inform the broader community on the responsible way recreational fishers are approaching sustainability of fish.

To deliver the planned outcomes will require investing in various aspects of line caught fish survival and a mechanism is required to plan, manage and deliver on this R&D investment. There is a need for the interim steering committee to be formalised to guide the development and implementation of the national strategy.