Fishcare Mornington Peninsula and Westernport Inc has received a grant of $1,716 under the Recreational Fishing Licence (RFL) Small Grants Program to produce two sets of plastic fish to be used to help educate the community on the importance of catch limits and how they relate to sustainable fishing. 

Participants in Fishcare Mornington’s ‘Fish Right’ workshops will be encouraged to assume the have just caught a fish, use the guide to correctly identify it and learn the regulations that apply to that species.  

“The plastic fish sets are designed to be used in conjunction with the Victorian Recreational Fishing Guide and include not only the more common recreational target species of Port Phillip Bay, but also many other species with differing minimum size and bag/possession limits” Fishcare spokesperson Jeff Green said. 

Fishcare Mornington undertakes many schools programs, including Schools Environment Week at The Briars and the City of Casey’s Environmental Expo at Berwick, that attract approximately 6,000 students each year, and the fish sets will be used at these activities as well as community festivals and expos. 

Fishcare is a state wide community based organisation that promotes responsible recreational angling practices and care for aquatic environments. 

More information on Fishcare can be found on their website www.fishcare.org.au 

Fishcare has just reprinted the popular ‘Weigh Your Catch’ Snapper ruler which allows recreational anglers to estimate the weight and age of a snapper based purely on its length.

“Designed to be stuck onto the side of a boat, the rulers improve the health of snapper that are released by reducing the time they spend out of the water,” said Fishcare’s Scott Gray who led the development of the product.

“By lying snapper down on the ruler an angler can quickly get a weight estimate of the fish without suspending it on scales.

“While good handling is not as important for fish that are going to be retained for the table, it is critical for released fish, whether they be undersize or in excess of anglers’ personal needs,” said Scott.

The ruler also contains useful information about snapper and their habits, colour pictures of adult and juvenile snapper for identification purposes and a list of tips about good fish handling practises.

“Given the phenomenal snapper seasons we have experienced over the last few years, particularly in Port Phillip Bay, this stick-on ruler ought to be very popular amongst keen saltwater anglers,” said Scott.

The rulers were produced care of a $22,132 grant from 2008/2009 Victorian Recreational Fishing Grants Program.

The ‘Weigh Your Catch’ snapper rulers are now available free of charge from participating retail fishing tackle stores.