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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2025-10-29 Daily Xml
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Recreational Fishers

Mr WHETSTONE (Chaffey) (15:19): I had the privilege of not only attending but also hosting a booth at the Adelaide 4WD and Adventure Show and the Club Marine SA Boat and Fishing Show over the weekend at the Wayville Showground. There were thousands who came through, but the mood was quite sombre. The reflections that came through my booth were that rec fishers and boaties were absolutely gobsmacked that the day before a national boating and fishing event, this government had made an announcement on restrictions particularly on the rec fishing sector. It is already impacting small businesses. Tackle shops are seeing about a 20 per cent to 30 per cent decline in their business. Rec fishers have very limited options now when it comes to getting out.

What it really shows is that we have a government giving out vouchers with one hand and placing restrictions with the other hand. They are giving out vouchers to restricted boating and fishing access on faraway coastlines. What are people going to do? The message I got loud and clear was that they are going to leave their boat in the shed, or if they are going to get the boat out of the shed they are going to Victoria. They are sick of the way that the recreational sector has been treated unfairly. It really does smack of political interference and it should have been a decision made by the MAC, the advisory committee that was set up by me as a minister as an independent body, an independent voice, to make sure that governments act without political interference.

The rec sector feels unfairly targeted. Many hundreds of comments on social media have come from a lot of the 350,000 rec fishers here in South Australia, and they have said that they are fed up. They are absolutely fed up with the way that they are being treated and the lopsided decision-making affecting their opportunities to catch fish. That is why the South Australian Liberal Party have a plan to create more opportunities for our rec fishers, stimulate the fishing economy and regional tourism during the algal bloom, protect our environment and teach the next generation to be custodians of our natural environment.

The South Australian fishing sector has become a serious contender on the national stage. We look across the border to Victoria and the great things that they have done for their rec fishing sector, and I think that we will see more to come. Our plan is called Go Fish SA and is about four pillars: getting 500,000 South Australians out fishing by 2030, building South Australia's first commercial freshwater hatchery to breed native freshwater fish, resnagging the River Murray and restoring habitat with fish hotels, and exploring opening more reservoirs and stocking them to boost fishing and give the opportunity for our young to be able to go out and catch a fish close to home, as well as boosting tourism.

The hatchery would be built at the Loxton Research Centre, breeding Murray cod, golden and silver perch, and freshwater catfish. It would reduce the cost of and reliance on purchasing fish from interstate hatcheries like Snobs Creek that send over very small fingerlings that we are beholden to—when they deliver them is when we release them. We would have autonomy over when we release those fish at a certain size. It would incentivise local stocking programs and create tourism opportunities and unique opportunities for scientists to practise on site.

Restoring habitat is the only way to naturally replenish our native stocks and sustain populations into the future. Studies show two to three times increased populations in resnagged areas, creating places to breed, feed, seek refuge and rest in fish hotels. Restocking reservoirs would create more fishing spots, more fish in our waterways and reservoirs, and scientific interest in reintroducing other iconic native species. We are already seeing that they are secretly releasing Murray crayfish and reinstating trout cod and Macquarie perch. Most importantly, this would get South Australians out fishing in our natural environment.

What we have seen over the last six months or more is a government that have sat on their hands. The Premier has been caught asleep at the wheel with this algal bloom. The Liberal Party of South Australia are putting good alternative policies on the table to allow people to experience our natural environment and take the pressure off our marine environment so that people can get out into our freshwater environment, catch a fish and make sure that we have a sustainable natural environment for all to enjoy.