THE West Australian Government has angered the state’s rec fishers by axing funding to key conservation and education initiatives.
The ABC reports in the lead-up to the 2013 election, the Liberal Party guaranteed Recfishwest 25 per cent of more than $7 million raised in licence revenue would be allocated to the Recreational Fishing Initiatives Fund.
But Dr Andrew Roland from Recfishwest said the Government has cut money flowing to the fund by half, breaking that election promise.
“The agreement was clear. It was 25 per cent to support conservation, sustainability and amenity for mums and dads,” he said.
Dr Rowland said the state’s fishers were not happy.
“We’ve seen some fantastic things from this. They’re not going to be happy that that has now been diluted down to 13 per cent,” he said.
Dr Rowland said the halving of revenue for the fund would mean an annual loss of $800,000, which would have a serious impact on critical programs.
“There are some immediate impacts, such as no Mandurah artificial reef, no more prawn restocking for the Swan River.
“But there are long-term programs that delivered real conservation and sustainability benefits for Western Australia that will now not go ahead because of these cuts.”
Read more at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-02/recreational-fishers-voice-anger-over-funding-cuts/6515828
