Your fees at work 2022-23

Every year the Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL) Trust Account allocates the fees you pay for a fishing licence to projects that directly improve recreational fishing in Victoria.

Intermediate Grants Program

The Recreational Fishing Grants Program – Intermediate Grants Program will fund the following four projects.

Large Grants Program

The Recreational Fishing Grants Program – Large Grants Program will fund the following ten projects.

Commissioning Grants Program

The following two projects will be funded through the 2022-23 round of the Recreational Fishing Grants Program - Commissioning Grants Program.

Informing sustainable management of Victoria’s wild catch fisheries

The aim of this project is to collect catch and effort data from recreational fishers at key locations in Port Phillip Bay, Western Port, the Gippsland Lakes, Corner Inlet and the coastal Lakes Entrance fishery. The information is vital in providing measures of stock abundance, population structure, mortality and the effectiveness of bag and size limits.

The cost of the project is $127,180. This will enable 216 catch and effort survey days to be undertaken across Port Phillip Bay, Western Port, Corner Inlet and the Gippsland Lakes and Lake Entrance coastal fisheries which will involve interviewing and recording catch details from about 4,000 fishers.

Communication and compliance products

The aim of this project is to continue the range of products that assist recreational fishers to understand and comply with fishing rules, without having to refer to legislative documents that are often difficult to comprehend.

The cost of this project is $276,512. The Victorian Fisheries Authority will produce and distribute the following products to anglers:

  • 135,000 copies of the 2024 recreational fishing guide (including 10,000 in Chinese and 5,000 in Vietnamese)
  • 100,000 fish length rulers (50,000 saltwater and 50,000 freshwater)
  • 20,000 Murray cod length/weight rulers
  • 15,000 Murray spiny and general freshwater crayfish measures
  • 13,000 rock lobster measures, and
  • 13,000 abalone measures.

Other RFL Trust Account Expenditure

During 2022-23, RFL revenue will also fund:

  • Increased fish stocking into lakes and rivers
  • The deployment of thirteen Fisheries Officers to boost enforcement and education
  • Initiatives and programs under the phase 2 of the Victorian Government's plan to get more people fishing, more often
  • VRFish, to provide advice to the Victorian Government about the broad range of recreational fishers’ views on the management of the State’s fisheries resources
  • The Victorian Fishcare program, which delivers responsible fishing education and events to the community
  • Projects approved through previous rounds of the Recreational Fishing Grants Program for access and facilities, education, information and training, recreational fisheries research and fish habitat improvement
  • Recreational Fishing Licence commissions paid to sellers
  • The costs incurred in the administration of the Recreational Fishing Licence, Grants Program and the Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Advisory Committee.

2022-23 Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Account Report

A report is tabled in Parliament each year concerning all RFL Trust Account revenue and expenditure. The 2022-23 Recreational Fishing Licence Trust Account Report is available for revenue spent in that and previous years.

(Click here to view the report)