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Building capability and capacity of women in recreational fishing: online course development

Project number: 2022-033
Project Status:
Completed
Budget expenditure: $113,490.00
Principal Investigator: Jo-Anne D. Starling
Organisation: River and Sea Pty Ltd
Project start/end date: 17 Jan 2023 - 15 Dec 2024
Contact:
FRDC

Need

The project aligns with FRDC outcomes and enabling strategies – building capability and capacity (4); and provide foundational information and support services (5). and outcomes addressing a culture that is inclusive and forward thinking (3): community trust, respect and value (5); growth for enduring prosperity (1) and best practices and production systems (2)

Whilst resources throughout the recreational fishing sector exist, there is a gap for learning materials that are structured to enable learning – often content does not consider learning outcomes, the sequence or activities necessary to learn and apply, or mechanisms to assess and recognise competency. There is also a gap in learning that specifically targets adults — with a recruitment focus of women and breaking down perceived barriers to entry — with a holistic approach that can take one from beginner to competent and well-versed angler.

Developing such a course will:
- Break down perceived barriers to entry for women into recreational fishing
- Facilitate a measurable, fast-tracked, capability-based journey into recreational fishing
- Establish and provide a gateway into other opportunities in fishing and aquaculture through recreational fishing
- Contribute to increasing the percentage of positive and collaborative individuals in the recreational fishing community through developing capability and capacity build a database of enthusiastic recreational fishers and their competencies

This course will actively work to increase the economic throughput of the recreational fishing sector by breaking down the barriers-to-entry for a vast and largely untapped segment of the market (women), which has the parallel benefit of shifting the perceived value of recreational fishing as a lifestyle, thus increasing the household investment in the activity.

The course intends to inspire a fresh generation of thought-leaders in the recreational fishing community, enabling a broad appreciation of the interplay of layers that influence and impact positive fishing experiences and a robust fishery.

Objectives

1. Provide practical fishing skills along with environmental, biological and philosophical content to encourage effective stewardship, leadership and advocacy for the recreational fishing sector, with links into the seafood industry.
2. Build recreational fishing technical and leadership capability and capacity and break down perceived entry barriers for women
3. Develop a sector led product facilitated by and contributing to enhancing women in recreational fishing through the Women's Recreational Fishing League Inc
4. Contribute to creating a respectful mindset by understanding shared resource, responsibilities and collaboration opportunities to build capability and capacity of female recreational fishers to drive change with other sectors
5. Enable female participants to see and pursue development pathways in recreational fishing
6. Enable the recognition of best practice and foundational capability development of recreational fishers through a co-designed course

Final report

Author: Jo Starling
Final Report • 2024-12-15
Watch a video on - Building capability and capacity of women in recreational fishing: online course development

Summary

The project aims to develop an online course to build the capability and capacity of women in recreational fishing, addressing gaps in structured learning materials that target adult women and break down barriers to entry. The course will offer self-directed, on-demand learning modules covering practical and theoretical fishing skills, sustainability and collaboration.
Final Report • 2024-12-16
2022-033-DLD

Summary

The Recreational Fishing Fundamentals and Vocational Development (RFFVD) Course, developed by the Women's Recreational Fishing League (WRFL) and the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC), is a foundational online educational initiative that will become available to the public in 2025 to expand female participation in recreational fishing across Australia. Unveiled at the 2023 AFTA Tackle Show in Gold Coast, this course provides accessible, self-paced modules that cover essential fishing skills, environmental stewardship, and development pathways within the industry.
This project aims to enable and empower women to engage confidently in recreational fishing. The course leverages education design principles, practices and approaches, modern learning methods, diagrams, contemporary graphics, and expert collaboration to reach diverse audiences across Australia.
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