Anglers cry foul over fishing fund
The Barnett Government faces a damaging brawl with WA's powerful recreational fishing sector over claims it raided a key amateur fishing fund to prop up its ailing Budget.
Recfishwest, which represents more than 700,000 recreational anglers across WA, said yesterday the Government had cut funding to the so-called recreational fishing initiatives fund by almost 50 per cent over the next four years.
Fisheries Minister Ken Baston has rejected the claims, insisting "every dollar of recreational fishing licence revenue is reinvested into recreational fishing" and the Government was committed to it.
The fund was set up by former fisheries minister Norman Moore in 2010 amid an outcry over the Government's controversial move to impose licence fees on people fishing from a boat.
Recfishwest chief Andrew Rowland said the fund was supposed to get 25 per cent of the money from boat fishing licences and other licences to bankroll recreational fishing projects.
He said the Government now appeared to have broken its commitment, meaning projects including an artificial reef at Mandurah, prawn restocking in the Swan River and safety measures for fishers would not happen.
"We're calling on the Government to reaffirm its support for the fund it created and provide comfort to the State's 740,000 recreational fishers that this is not simply a raid on their money to help balance the Budget," Dr Rowland said.
Mr Baston said savings identified in the Budget would come from the Fisheries Department, not the fishing initiatives fund.
"Each year, Recfishwest submits a range of proposals for the Government to consider to be funded out of the RFIF and I assess these according to the priorities of the State," he said.
"I have not yet received any recommendations from Recfishwest regarding project funding for 2015-16 and I look forward to meeting with them in due course."
Shadow fisheries minister David Kelly accused the Government of ripping $3.2 million from the sector.
