Outcome 2: diverse and abundant fish stocks

Read about outcome 2 strategies and actions of the Northern Territory (NT) recreational fishing development plan 2023 to 2033.

Strategies and actions

Set contemporary recreational fishing policy objectives

• Develop overarching fisheries policy that integrates recreational fishing expectations and objectives, which includes recognition of maintenance of high levels of natural abundance.

Grow the awareness of the importance of fish diversity and abundance and the behaviours required to maintain it.

• Promote the importance of responsible fishing behaviours to protect and maintain habitats and high levels of fish diversity, abundance and populations using existing communication channels and resources, and develop and deliver additional communications strategies and resources. Focus areas include the challenges of managing at risk species, barotrauma, fish handling, fish consumption practices, and habitat stewardship. It will also include targeted engagement and communication approaches to influence fishing behaviours to support further Golden Snapper recovery.

Optimise the maintenance and protection of recreational fishing habitats and ecological processes

• Engage with other government agencies and stakeholders to explore ways to better identify, manage and protect aquatic, marine and terrestrial habitats critical to the maintenance of important recreational fishing resources. A key focus includes activating investment to enable coordinated habitat protection and restoration, and planning for and addressing environmental management freshwater ecosystems in the Mary River system and Kakadu.
• Facilitate appropriate recreational fishing offsets for unavoidable impacts of the Middle Arm Precinct Development to recreational fishing resources and experiences.

Ensure adequate engagement between government agencies and recreational fishing stakeholders on environmental issues

• Review processes and resources currently in place to ensure Amateur Fisherman’s Association NT, NT Guided Fishing Industry Association and NT Fisheries are appropriately engaged on relevant environmental, water and land management.

Monitor and manage pressure on important recreational fishing species to maximise recreational fishing outcomes in priority areas

• Support the review, development and implementation of key management frameworks and harvest strategies for the Territory’s most important recreational fisheries, including the coastal line fisheries and the Barramundi fishery.
• Explore approaches to monitor and manage the impacts of recreational fishing technology and efficiency advancements (e.g. such as livescope and active scan technologies), and how this can integrate with individual fishery framework reviews and research and monitoring plans.
• Undertake research to better inform/monitor the relationship between target stock abundance, strike rate and fish size on performance/satisfaction in recreational fisheries and explore integration of findings into harvest strategies and other management tools/arrangements.

Prepare to adapt to a changing climate and the potential impacts to recreational fishing resources

• Identify, develop and implement appropriate climate change mitigation and adaptation measures to optimise recreational fishing resources.

Optimise recreational fishing data and research processes and outcomes to inform management and decision making

• Develop and implement a recreational fishing data, monitoring and research plan to facilitate required recreational fishing data, knowledge and research, focusing on priority knowledge gaps (such as the need for more information about reef fish post release mortality), citizen science, integration of traditional knowledge, understanding of recreational fishing activity and pressures, and improving on recreational data collection methods, timeliness and accuracy.