was always going to come in at some stage or other...
hopefully they will just make it one license now to fish everywhere to prevent another add-on to the cumbersome system.

I hope they make one license and maybe there is an age limit like freshwater... ill be excluded :P

As Tony said, i hope they make it just one license as a Recreational Fishing License.

It would also be good if they did as VIC and NSW does and have it so you can buy say a 3 day, or one month license aswell for the people who travel here to fish. I know when i go to VIC trout fishing i just usually get the 2 day license. Make sense really when i am not going to be fishing there for the entire year, only for a couple of days.

ok its about time they bought in a land based fishing licence,so there is no confusion.but in my opinion they should combine both licences for the same price of 30 dollars,maybe all fish species will be protected this way

Would be nice to see a single licence, but if I have to pay $30 to fish for the year then I'm happy to do so. Especially if I know that money is going into sustaining the marine ecosystem - through more research, Fisheries Officers, etc.

i think that would suk eggs!whats next a tax for being on the beach.

$30-$50 is fine but i would love to see the money go to more officers out and about and money put into fish stocks/breeding etc

i think that it is a good idea but as others have said it must go towards fisheries research any ways boat fishers have to pay it so why not shore based fishers as well it is then fairer for ALL FISHERS

                            hydro

I wouldn't mind paying more than is suggested to be honest and long as it leads to an increase in the number of fisheries officers checking rock walls, beaches and marinas.

If it doesn't, then it's just another form of taxation.

I am against the idea,,10% of landbased folks probally do 90% of the fishing,,,most folks mght go once or twice a year,even once every two years clutching there u beaut kmart rods and a packet of prawns,its often a family thing on a whim,,,they don't expect to catch anything and rarely do,,grandad might come along as well,,

Being able to wander down to the beach and throw a line in is what Australian life is all about,,start taxing folks for one of lifes great pleasures can't be a good thing .

I agree with Tailor Mark if they introduce a license then they must get more man power to enforce the law as at the moment its dismal

Just let em get that one foot in the door, and look at what they're considering,

 Why would you for one moment, even consider trusting, these politicians?

BAAAAA  BAAAAAA

Not sure how NSW amateur licences go but I'm sure they have a week or fortnight one for $20-$30 and $50 or $60 for the full year that covers salt water--not sure again if freshwater is in as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if something along those lines are introduced.

I'm surprised the pollies haven't done it before but it was the lesser of two evils that got this Gov in with the proposals that Labor put up frightening everyone.

fisheries research is a must and i am all for it but ive got mates that fish maybe once every few months and would probably give it up over fees and licences and i think that would be a shame.

Yeah in NSW it is $75 for three years and with the money raised they have been buying out Pro Netters in all the Saltwater lakes and rivers, which has made a huge difference to the number of fish around. If they did the same thing here they could buy out the Salmon licences so we get a few more Salmon here in Perth.

The only reason you don't get salmon in Perth is they don't swim up rivers!!

No seriously, the reason they don't get up that far is water temperature.Once they hit warm water they spawn then turn round and head south again.About 10 years back there were no salmon caught on the west coast by amatuers or professionals because of a very strong current.The same year they caught spaniards off Augusta.What salmon are seen on the coast is less than 15% of the total biomass.

No buy back is going to change that one iota.So we can look forward to guesswork on where the fund will go to do the most good for us the amatuers

Im more than happy to pay the fee, especially if the money is used well! problem is the people who only want to fish a couple of times a year, or some mates who borrow my gear and come down once or twice in a blue moon. A bit of herring fishing with the kids might become a thing of the past.

 Would actually benefit me by clearing up some of the bussier spots. would be a real blow to a great part of the west australian life style though!!

79% have voted against it so far in a poll by the West.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/polls/popup/-/poll_id/52635

Having your say on this poll could be important I think.

Government look at these polls.....and views expressed on websites

No suprise really, who is going to volunteer to pay extra money in this day and age.  The question is more, if it does get brought in, what sort of structure would you like, what is an acceptable amount for the fee and are all these new fees doing anything to improve the fishery?

I just hope its not a 'tax' to boost polly's pay packets and it does go into the right avenues.

Let's say the Fisheries budget is $5 million a year and the new licences raise an extra $1 million a year.  Guess what the budget allocation for Fisheries will be next year?  $4 milliion?  I can just hear that idiot Barnett "Well they raised an extra $1 million for licences so we can cut their budget back by $1 million this year".  I'm all for chipping in towards the WA fisheries if I know it is actually going to help but who really knows that it will go towards helping through research, compliance etc?

why couldnt they just incorperate the RFBL and land based licence in one. Another option possibly that would work is a family licence that covers every person in the immediate family eg, mum , dad, sons and daughters. that way it would be more affordable for those that are finding it hard and still enjoy a fish to eat

danger is then we have land based anglers counted in with the boat boys when they say time to close an area over too much persevered pressure.
looking at my new RFBL or RBFL what ever it may be called, they left enough space on the side to add a dozen or so licenses onto one card!
Well looks like a regulated fishery may soon be a fact.
Well regulated and well managed!!!, well thats another question all together

Of course the Government needs more money,

After all WA's the richest state in the country, HUGE fees to put a stamp on a document (Stamp duty), Land Tax is your reward for going without - working hard and trying to setup self sufficiency for retirement, electricity is going up - (what is it) 100% plus, over three years, waters going up and "desal" is obviously the way to go as opposed to dams which may have added a recreational venue to our landscape apart from providing water, Half to cost of each litre of fuel is tax, More than half the cost of each airline flight WITHIN the state is TAX and fees, then you have multinovas which have been so successful in reducing the road toll...(not)... (adding huge amounts of revenue to the state coffers), is it now rumoured; GST is going up, AND we TRUST that they will use the money as they have said they will........and after all that,

they need to tax your family to go fishing.

 BAAAAAA   BAAAA

We should not be paying licenses to fund more fisheries positions, that is the governments resposibilty as the employer of the fisheries officers, we already pay for their services by paying taxes, we should not be asked to pay twice to get more fisheries officers.

Funds should be used for research and restocking of aquaculture and educating the general public not paying for employing more staff to enforce the new rules.

Until the government provides proof of how the funds are being dispersed it is going to be an unknown argument.

it just goes to show what the government had already planned when you get your new rbfl you will notice they already had the license cards made up a while ago as they have the west coast demersal license classification already printed on the back of the license expecting us all to jsut accept it.

I cant believe the readiness to accept this crap.How many more restrictions are we willing to accept and how long before fishing becomes an elitist sport where we pay thousands for the privilege of fishing a certain spot. Like SHORTY says, who are the people that are going to suffer?How many more computer games for kids are we going to buy, how many more kids on the streets because it becomes too difficult to just grab the missus, kids and dog and head out for a fish.

Like the BCF add says, get a life!

Most of my fishing is land based. When I go fishing I buy bait, fuel, beer, tackle etc. Average weekends fishing is around $150.00. On very rough figures, that’s around $50.00 in taxes to the government. Multiply that by about 50000 people most weekends doing something similar and then ADD on the boaties who spend probably double or triple!

I think we already make a significant contribution to government revenue. What is a license going to do apart from raise more revenue?

Personally, I say F*** O**.Bring in fishing licenses and lets see more people watching doccos on weekends

Maybe they should consider a levy on the sale of bait , 2-3% like GST and all revenues go to research and or fisheries. by having that it would be a more you fish the more you will have to contribute and effectivley rule out having to police licences

If you put a levy on bait ,ok,then comes the GST on the total. The end result is that the federal Gov has got 10% of the levy for doing zilch.

The gov will never release the exact nunber of licences issued so no one can work out how much goes to research and in to their coffers

they were expecting 40 000 RFBL by easter

So where do people think the licence revenue should be spent????

Well how long are we going to take this crap.you tell me how we are not ,don't buy the licences or pay you redgo,just do as you please ,then you just have to pay your fines .All the bitching in the world isn't going to change a thing, Gas, electricity,water and rates ,they keep going up and the only way out of paying these bills is don't use the service Yer right ,they got you by the nuts and there is f all you can do about it .As said it will become a rich man sport so start saving your pennys.

Just another form of tax IMO and the suggestion of a LB license, while not totally obscene, would be impossible to police. I pay a FW license fee. Why shouldn't that allow me to dip a line in the ocean for some bread and butter species?

This Gov't seems hell bent on each Minsister coming up with some way of increasing revenue into the Treasury coffers. A classic recent example is that despite the fact a state of natural disaster was declared following the recent storm, those who have had cars written off still need to pay full stamp duty on the replacement of a car of the same or similar value. That is opportunism and a rip-off. Where will that money go?

The State landfill levy has been increased 300% and that money goes into consolidated revenue - not back into the waste management system. The result here is that rate payers pick up the tab. Another example of this Gov't ripping us off.

Until I see some positive plans for actions that WILL result in an increase in sustainability I am remaining a sceptic and oppose anything the current Gov't implements where there is a fee involved.

im all for it, while its going to be terrible for the family day out, its going to be great in keeping down certain people who catch undersized fish for their soup!

every time i go to woodman point i always  see people keeping undersized fish, i've had a go at a few people for it actually.

these sort of people are the reason we have issues, nothing else..i think if they want to gain more money to improve the fishing scene, up the price of fines for undersized fish, and put more people in place in common spots like woodman point to make sure people are not taking home undersized fish, and if they are hit them with a massive fine, that is going to have a much greater effect than throwing out a license i think, and the money produced from the fines should pay the people who are doing the check ups.

I can't get over all tha rules and regulations in this country.   WTF Barnett is tha biggest donkey politician I have ever seen.    Both him and K Rudd will both be out next election.   I am all for preserving tha fish stocks by enforcing bag limits and species catch sizes, however continually hitting us in tha pockets just so that they can drive nice cars and get fat is absurd!!!!!   I think there should be a politician tax that they need to pay everytime shit comes out of their mouths.    Next thing you know we will all have little detectors attached to us that will charge us everytime we fart and we will get a bill in tha mail PATHETIC.