Fishing in the spotlight

Have your say on the future of recreational fishing

The next steps in growing the South Australia’s recreational fishing tourism sector – currently worth $380 million a year – got underway last week.

A statewide, industry led survey is taking place to help plan ahead for future growth of the sector, and to deliver on an election commitment to develop an integrated Recreational Fishing Tourism Strategy.

Recreational fishing tourism is an important component of the South Australian visitor economy – with around 810,000 leisure visitors to and within South Australia including fishing as part of their trip.

The South Australian Tourism Commission, in partnership with RecFish SA, is undertaking a survey to help inform the new strategy, which will aim to:

• help the sector achieve its full potential; and

• maximise its contribution to the South Australian economy, people and nature.

Recreational fishing tourism plays an important role in the wider visitor economy. It is an important driver of visitation across the State, with recreational fishers contributing to the dispersal of tourism dollars deep into tourism regions.

Once developed, the strategy seeks to consolidate South Australia as a key recreational fishing tourism destination and provide a framework and set of indicators that highlights the economic contribution of recreational fishing tourism to the State.

According to the latest Survey of Recreational Fishing in South Australia (2021-22) there are about 360,000 recreational fishers in South Australia, and recreational fishing contributes $1 billion to the state’s economy (about 1 per cent of the Gross State Product).

The survey runs until July 27 and can be accessed through Recreational Fishing Tourism Strategy | YourSAy yoursay.sa.gov. au/recreational-fishingtourism. The strategy is due to launch by March 2024.