Developing cost-effective socio-economic monitoring for inland recreational fisheries in NSW

This approach was developed by establishing a core set of variables for monitoring that are achievable within the constraints of a 15-minute interview, and have the capacity to indicate (but not necessarily comprehensively assess) meaningful changes over time. 

These efforts seek to support a general move towards adaptive management and stakeholder inclusive approaches in recreational fisheries. Adaptive management refers to management and decision-making which is responsive to changes in the fishery over time, through means of a transparent, structured and evidence-based decision-making cycle. 

In the freshwater context, NSW DPI has begun instituting a systematic approach to the management of inland recreational fisheries. So far, these efforts have instituted monitoring of biological and environmental variables, such as trout and native stocks, water temperature, habitat, and catch at key monitoring sites. However, there is not yet any collection of social or economic data, which can be important for understanding angler behaviour, the contribution of recreational fisheries to rural and regional communities, and the outcomes of management efforts. This project report aims to assist efforts in addressing this gap.

As well as demonstrating the feasibility of this method, this study also provided results on catch, angler expenditure and angler motivation and satisfaction at three sites:

• Copeton Dam
• Windamere Dam
• Snowy Lakes

Download the Developing cost-effective socio-economic monitoring for inland recreational fisheries in 
NSW project report (1.3 MB)