Tag: sunsmart

Fishing clinics program brings net benefits for socially at-risk young people

Young people who are doing it tough are enjoying the mental, well-being and physical net benefits fishing has to offer thanks to a partnership between “at risk” youth program Youth Futures and Recfishwest.  

Funded through our Community Grants Program – students from the Youth Futures Community School in Midland are being given the chance to enjoy fishing through Recfishwest’s SunSmart fishing clinics proudly supported by Healthway and Shimano Australia, which are being run on several locations on the Swan River.  

And the ‘Next Cast’ project is proving to be a huge success with the school’s students truly bitten by the fishing bug.  

“I’ve been inundated with questions from the students asking where and when the next fishing clinic is taking place because they had so much fun,” said Youth Futures Education Assistant Jonathan Higham.  

“We’ve been seeing first-hand the immediate and prolonged benefits that these fishing clinics have been having on our students. Engaging activities out in the fresh air close to nature such as fishing also helps boost the students’ engagement in class. They’ve told us they all really look forward to coming to school when the fishing clinics were coming up.” 

Youth Futures have reported the fishing clinics as a huge success for improving the mental and physical wellbeing of their students, with higher engagement in classes following the fishing trips.

Next Cast aims to give alternative learning opportunities to young people who are socially disconnected because of their circumstances and are at risk of falling through the cracks of the education system. 

Most importantly it gives them the opportunity to enjoy the social and physical benefits fishing provides, as well as promoting peer support and positive social interaction. 

“Different students had different levels of experience,” said Jonathan. “Some of them had never fished before while others were quite skilled and experienced. It resulted in the more experienced helping out the inexperienced, which adds to the social element of it all.” 

Recfishwest Fishing Clinics Coordinator Sedin Hasanovic, who has been running the clinics with fellow instructor, Kim Burton said, “Time and time again, we see young people come alive with a rod in their hand at these fishing clinics and the Youth Futures students are no exception. Fishing is such a highly engaging activity and as well as showing them how to fish, our clinics teach participants about fishing sustainably, looking after the environment and being SunSmart.  

“It’s been fantastic to see these young people from some tough backgrounds getting into fishing so much – hopefully it can give them some relief from some of the challenges they have to face and maybe sew the seeds for a lifelong passion for fishing just like we have.”  

Seven fishing clinics, for young people aged between 12-14 years, took place over the school’s first semester of 2023 at a number of locations in the Swan River, along with metro-based ocean marinas and jetties. 

Another 11 fishing clinics are planned for the second semester of 2023 for the schools’ 15-18-year-olds, with a view to making the Next Cast program a permanent fixture of Youth Futures.  

Based on the great feedback from their first seven fishing clinics in the first semester, Youth Futures have booked another 11 fishing clinics for their older students for the remainder of 2023, with hopes of making fishing trips a permanent social activity in future.

Granting wishes to great local projects  

Since the Community Grants program began in 2011, Recfishwest has proudly provided more than $500,000 in funding for more than 200 fishing clinics, equipment upgrades, safety training and numerous community-driven fishing projects thanks to funding through the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund (RFIF) and supported by DPIRD.  

Find out more about our Community Grants Program here  

Sun, smiles and fish aplenty – our SunSmart southern fishing clinics were a winner this summer

Whiting, herring, flounder, skippy, tarwhine and black bream were just some of the fantastic fish that put big smiles on the dials of our next generation of fishers taking part in our Southern Tour of SunSmart fishing clinics.

Run in partnership with Healthway and supported by Shimano, the tour saw Recfishwest host 10 free fishing clinics in south coast estuaries, rivers and marinas showcasing the variety of fish kids can enjoy catching in these special environments and why these clinics are so important for local communities.

Free of charge and with all gear provided, kids spent two hours learning fishing tips and tricks from the pros at Bremer Bay, Albany, Denmark, Walpole and Augusta, with Recfishwest Operations Team Member John Dempsey and DBCA’s Stephen Crane teaching the kids about the basics of fishing, fish handling tips, the importance of fishing sustainably and the value of the waterways.

“It’s great to see these Southern Tours brimming with excited kids and their families coming along to experience safe, accessible and rewarding fishing sessions – you can see how important fishing is for communities on the south coast,” said John.

“Not only do these healthy estuarine environments provide ideal nursery habitats, but they also lead to great fishing and impressive catches – we certainly had our hands full keeping up with the number of fish being landed!

“In addition to all the valuable fishing knowledge these clinics have provided, they also focus on keeping kids safe under the sun and we’re grateful to Healthway for helping us continue to run these great community events.”

Were you one of the young guns getting amongst the fishing action? Check out some of the great snaps from some of our recent SunSmart fishing clinics below!

Albany

Bremer Bay

Denmark

Augusta

Recfishwest’s next fishing clinic will take place between 8:00am-10:00am, 22 April at A.P Hinds Reserve in Bayswater, come wet a line with us!

Dampier community fishes for fun and for science!

We had a fantastic response to our Fishing for Science fish sampling table and fishing clinic in Dampier coinciding with King Bay Game Fishing Club’s recent Dampier classic.

The great response to these activities and the dozens of boats in the competition shows just how important fishing for regional communities continues to be.

Wahoo, Spanish mackerel, queenfish, longtail tuna, barracuda and golden trevally – these were just some of the species local anglers landed throughout our five-day visit to the northern coastal fishing jewel.

Our Sunsmart Fishing Clinic saw more than 40 eager kids wet a line off the shore, with plenty of great catches of species such as bluebone and stripey snapper providing great memories and snaps for the next generation of anglers.

We had a great time showing future generations how to safely catch, handle and release fish!

Following the Sunsmart Fishing Clinics in the mornings, the icing on the cake for our Recfishwest team was the many fish given to us to sample for our Fishing for Science Program at the end of each day’s weigh-in from 67 competitors wetting a line from 21 vessels.

Fishing for Science is a community engagement program that enables local communities to better understand scientifically the fish species that underpin prized fishing experiences.

READ MORE ABOUT OUR FISHING FOR SCIENCE PROGRAM HERE

In total, more than 50 fish across 15 different species were brought to the sampling table, for measuring, sexing and having belly tissue samples taken to freeze for future scientific studies and monitoring of our fish stocks.

Other data gathered for our Fishing for Science program across the competition included the weight, condition, sex, parasites and maturity stage of each fish, providing useful knowledge for locals while allowing them to give back in protecting our fisheries.

Sam Russell and Danielle Hartshorn always had a great bunch of kids eager to see the fish gender reveals!

Operations Officer Sam Russell said both the fishing clinics and positive engagement with the competition participants provided invaluable information on the importance of these special ocean habitats to our northern communities.

“A big thanks to the Dampier fishing communities, King Bay Game Fishing Club and Sunsmart for allowing us to run these clinics and engage with hundreds of Dampier and Karratha locals again this year – and a big thanks to our Fishing for Science partners Woodside Energy for supporting this great community program”