Recreational Fishing Trust grants 2022

Image of woman and child fishing on a small jetty with the sun setting.

All money raised by the NSW Recreational Fishing Licence Fee is placed into the Recreational Fishing Trusts and put towards many different projects to improve recreational fishing.

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Key information

  • Status: Closed
  • Grant amount: Up to $500,000
  • Application opened: 2 November 2023
  • Application closed: 18 December 2023

Program objective

All revenue raised by the NSW Recreational Fishing Licence Fee is placed into the Recreational Fishing Trusts. There are two Trusts – one for freshwater and one for saltwater. Grants are provided from the Trusts to deliver a wide range of programs to boost recreational fishing opportunities in NSW.

This program is administered by Department of Primary Industries.

This program is funded by Department of Planning and Environment.

Eligibility

Who can apply

  • Organisations must be incorporated
  • Applications must be completed in full, including the budget section (with sufficient detail to enable a sound assessment)
  • Applications must show clearly how the project team will deliver the project

Who can’t apply

  • Unincorporated organisations

Types of projects funded under this grant

  • Recreational fishing education - fishing workshops and clinics including teaching kids and adults how to fish and fishing for therapy, schools education programs, fishing advisory, increasing participation in recreational fishing & other fishing club events to promote fishing
  • Fishing access and facilities - fishing amenities such as platforms, cleaning tables, kayak launching platforms, access upgrades, fishing safety infrastructure, fishing line bins & other angler facilities, enhancement of fishing access
  • Research on fish and recreational fishing - fishing surveys, biology of popular recreational species, angler catch projects, effectiveness of stocking practices
  • Enhancement of recreational fishing

Note: there are separate grant funding opportunities for aquatic fish habitat rehabilitation and Community Dollar for Dollar re-stocking grants (see below).

What can’t you apply for

  • Projects should not include construction of general public amenities such as toilet blocks etc. (unless direct relevance to recreational fishing can be clearly demonstrated). However, general public amenities may be an important part of an overall project and could be included as part of the applicant’s contribution to the project. For example a local land manager might apply for funding for a fishing platform and their contribution to the project could be to fund the adjoining car parking
  • Project activities should not include commercial ventures or materials developed for a primarily commercial purpose.
  • Note: Prior to applying for boating infrastructure projects, applicants should consider the NSW Boating Now program in the first instance for construction of boat launching ramps, boat wharves, boating pontoons or other boating infrastructure.
  • Project activities should not include running the business of organisations/clubs including building club premises or improving club facilities that are only available to club members.
  • Project activities should not include dredging activities (this is usually the responsibility of local authorities).

Most recent recipients

All recipients (37)

What your application needs to include

There are different funding application forms to choose from when applying for funding. Download the relevant application.

1

Address the eligibility criteria

  • Organisations must be incorporated
  • Applications must be completed in full, including the budget section (with sufficient detail to enable a sound assessment)
  • Applications must show clearly how the project team will deliver the project
2

Address the assessment criteria

  • Funding applications must relate to the improvement of recreational fishing and will be assessed against the extent of benefit to recreational fishing
  • Projects must show appropriate and adequate expertise within the project team to complete the project.
  • Projects must be technically sound and utilise best practice.
  • Projects must have an accurate, cost effective budget which shows value for money. Contributing funding or ‘in-kind’ contribution by the applicant and other project partners should be included in the budget, where relevant.
  • Projects must show stakeholder support for the project (where relevant).On ground projects should not be on private land or land with no free public access (where relevant).

Advice on ways to improve / maximise the cost benefit of a project:

  • Infrastructure projects are usually reviewed in terms of what is the level of the requested funding in relation to the extent the infrastructure benefits recreational fishers. So key things to consider for a fish cleaning table would be how many taps does the table have, or how wide is the fishing platform or how many fishers can use it at the same time?
  • Education or research projects are often statewide or regional, benefitting many people, but even if a project is very small scale and localised, it may have statewide benefit if it is run as a pilot project with the results shared through wider networks.
  • Investigate all other potential sources of funding that could contribute to the project. Provide any evidence of unsuccessful attempts to gain funding from other sources.
  • Quotes and estimates for project items should be sought to obtain best value for money. When developing the project costings, any quotes/estimates should be attached to the project application to assist in the assessment of the project’s value for money.

Start the application

Applications for this grant are available on the Department of Primary Industries website.

After the application is submitted

Successful applications will be decided by: Minister for Agriculture

The applications will be assessed and both successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified.

Support and contact

Phone: 02 4916 3835

Email: recreational.fishingtrust@dpi.nsw.gov.au

Postal Address: Recreational Fishing Trust Executive Officer, Department of Regional NSW, LMB 3020, Nowra NSW 2541 

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