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How Recfishwest’s Community Grants are improving fishing across WA in 2023
Whether fishing clubs or local business – community groups can achieve amazing things when they are backed in with support and resources with fishing the lifeblood of many regional communities.
That is why Recfishwest has proudly provided more than $500,000 in funding for more than 200 clinics, equipment upgrades, safety training and numerous community-driven fishing projects since 2011.
Funded through the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund (RFIF) and supported by DPIRD, the Community Grants program helps fishing clubs and other groups achieve their goals in making recreational fishing better in their areas and benefitting local fishers.
Check out the 16 different organisations below that applied for and received Recfishwest’s latest Community Grants and what exciting projects they will be running using the funding in 2023!
2023 Community Grant recipients and their projects
Recipient: Albany Boating and Fishing Club Project: Track my Fish App
The grant provided to Albany Boating and Fishing Club will further help implement the Track my Fish app for three years and improve the sustainability of their Southern Ocean Spectacular fishing competition from a catch and kill to catch and release competition.
Recipient: Apex Club of Kununurra Project: Barra Bash fishing competition
The Apex Kununurra Barra Bash, the ultimate celebration of barra fishing in the Kimberley, and has become one of the biggest fishing competitions in Western Australia. The grant awarded to the club will assist in promoting and running the 2023 competition.
Recipient: Ashburton Anglers Project: Catch and release competition
The Ashburton Anglers run a great catch and release competition focusing on non-demersal species in the northern regions of Western Australia, Their grant is will help boost promotion of the competition while educating future fishing generations about sustainable fishing practices.
Recipient: Australian Trout Foundation Inc. Projects: Trout fishing guide (Collie River and Wellington Dam), angler access stiles and club marquee
Better public access can help improve freshwater fishing in our South-West regions. This grant given to the Australian Trout Foundation will be spent on building angler access stiles to reach fishing spots easier, signage promoting trout fishing tips and for financial assistance in building the club’s new marquee.
Recipient: Exmouth Game Fishing Club Project: GAMEX 2023 community engagement package
The 2023 GAMEX Fishing Competition taking place in March is WA’s premier game fishing tournament pulling in hundreds of entrants from across WA and beyond. Our community grant will further support the competition to help fishers provide fish samples to benefit the research conducted by our Fishing for Science team.
Recipient: Fremantle Sailing Club Project: Kids fishing clinics and first aid training
This grant given to the Fremantle Sailing Club will be used to further improve the fishing experiences for dozens of families and their children, along with supporting the appropriate safety measures for fishing trips and education around teaching kids about the value of Cockburn Sound and helping to protect it.
Recipient: Kids Cancer Support Group Project: Kayak Fishing Classic
Families that have young children battling cancer are doing it tough and this grant intends on supporting them and helping their kids enjoy the fishing experiences they deserve. These funds also go towards supporting the Kayak Fishing Classic, which is a favourite of the Swan Yacht Club.
Recipient: Kimberley Free Diving Club Project: Purchase of safety and training equipment
The Kimberley Free Diving Club is relatively new and helps promote and practice safe one-breath diving. This grant will help the club promote education and training on safety, relaxation, sustainability, community events and conservation of marine life.
Recipient: Kalbarri Offshore and Angling Club Project: 2023 Kids whiting competition
The Kalbarri Offshore and Angling Club pulls in hundreds of kids each year to their Kids Whiting Competition and Recfishwest is happy to provide the club with a community grant to help boost the 2023 competition’s promotion and encourage more kids to learn how to catch and release the great species on offer off our mid-west coastline.
Recipient: Lancelin Angling and Aquatic Club Project: John Bray Junior Fishing Classic
Held on Boxing Day each year, the John Bray Junior Fishing Classic is always a highly popular event that mixes Christmas spirit with the chance for kids to drop a line off the beautiful Lancelin beaches. This grant will help this great event to continue and ensure plenty of Christmas gifts are dished out!
Recipient: Life’s Short, Stay Moist Project: Women in spearfishing series
Established in 2021, this club encourages more women to participate in spearfishing off WA while having a laugh and providing better education on spearfishing safety. This community grant will be used to promote the club’s annual spearfishing series and enable the women to get out on a charter vesselfor a spearfishing expedition!
This fishing competition has run for many years and always pulls in an enormous crowd of all ages and abilities to come together and wet a line in the pristine waters of Geographe Bay. This grant will help promote the event and support our South-West fishing clinics in the area.
Recipient: Nicol Bay Sports Fishing Club Project: Shade structure
The Nicol Bay Sports Fishing Club in Dampier has long been supporters of our Fishing for Science program which specalises in having a better scientific understanding of the great species that underpin the prized fishing experiences in the area. This grant is being used to help build a shade structure at the club for improved protection from the Pilbara sun!
Recipient: Perth Game Fishing Club Projects: Metro-based FADs, Al McGlashan photographer promotion, Jurien Bay Open, Ladies and Junior Day
The Perth Game Fishing Club is heavily involved with a range of fishing activities off our coastline and the grant given to the club is being used for ongoing support of their six FADs located west of Rottnest, the Jurien Bay Open fishing competition and their Ladies and Junior Day.
Recipient: Youth Futures Community School Project: Fishing clinic program for at risk youth
The Youth Futures Community School help at-risk students enjoy a flexible environment where they can complete their education and receive the support they need. This grant is going towards funding their nine fishing clinics taking part in the first half of 2023.
Recipient: Shark Bay Community Resource Centre Project: Support for Fishing Fiesta
The Shark Bay Community Resource Centre will hold their Fishing Fiesta event in May as part of a week-long celebration to encourage recreational fishing in Shark Bay. The local community loves this event and this grant was given to the centre to help run it.
Keep an eye out for when we open up applications for our next round of Community Grants in the second half of 2023!
Recfishwest was pleased to hear Environment Minister Reece Whitby talk up the importance of Cockburn Sound and its seagrass habitat at a recent partnership agreement signing between Cockburn Power Boats Club (CPBC…
If you want a perfect example of why land-based fishing access and experiences need to be protected on the south coast – then the recent Esperance Land Based Fishing Club‘s Open Classic competition rang the bell…
Barramundi mania took hold in Kununurra this past weekend with 1,125 anglers entering the East Kimberley town’s 25th annual Apex Barra Bash making it the biggest fishing tournament in WA history.
It is the first…
Recfishwest got the chance to catch up with hundreds of mad keen recfishers on the weekend (15-17 September) at the Perth Boat Show.
Our stand at the heart of the show’s fishing section was a hive of…
DPIRD has advised that from 1 October 2023, fishing will not be permitted for greenlip abalone between Busselton Jetty and Shoal Cape in the Stokes National Park, west of Esperance.
In addition:
These changes are…
With 78 boats brimming with 266 competitors all hoping to catch the biggest Spanish mackerel at the recent MACK10K competition in Onslow – our Fishing for Science table was jam-packed with macks!
The annual…
