NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers has been pressing the NSW Government to follow the lead of other jurisdictions and ban these traps. The design is quite dangerous for airbreathing animals such as platypus.

NSWCFA have just received the this news that they will be banned from 30 Apr 2021. An education program, including free swaps on nets, will commence soon.

Another positive outcome from CFA agitation.

From a personal perspective:
I’m disappointed in respect to a couple of matters in the Minister’s statement: no mention that the swap of nets was funded by RFFTEC (our ‘licence’ fees) rather than Government funds, no mention of use on private property and finally describing the yabby trap change as a ‘minor change’ – why then did it take so long.

I keep doing this … March issue arrived today.

Top items:

• The Snowy Trout Challenge isn’t over yet. It is open to all anglers and runs from October 31, 2020 to April 30, 2021. 430 large tagged rainbow trout have been released into the local waterways of the Snowy/Monaro. Each fish is tagged with a pink tag. At the end of February are still over 270 tagged trout out there with sponsored prizes attached to over 70% of them, including $1000 cash prizes and accommodation packages.
• Fertile trapped Kosciuszko feral horses are being set free
• Have your say on proposed fisheries changes in NSW. Submissions will close 30th March 2021.
• NSWCFA Meetings. Meetings of the Executive Committee have been held on 27 January and 24 February 2021 and a quarterly general meeting of the Council was held on Saturday 20 February 2021. All meetings were held on Zoom and were well attended. Notes are in the newsletter.

We’ve moved the PO Box from Civic to Hawker. If you are intending to use snail mail to send stuff to the club, the address is now PO Box 4115 HAWKER ACT 2614.

The best resource listing restrictions is the Snowy Hydro webpage. eg, no access along Quarry Trail Road to the Western shore of Lake Tantangara.

The Snowy Hydro page links to the Future Generation Joint Venture schedule of large load transportation.

From BJ:

This is a couple of years old but I ran into a “ranger” when I walked down from Shephards Lookout entrance with rod in hand a few weeks ago.

They are restricting access while reforming the land use, but informally tolerating fisherman. However land use negotiations with Corkhills next door mean that the fence lines might become harder than they were on the north side of the river.

They’ll be building a water “park” access for the Gininderry residents.

https://ginninderry.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Attach-A-Ginninderry-Corridor-POM-1.pdf

Through our affiliation with the NSW Council of Freshwater Anglers, we are engaged with the RFANSW. Their first newsletter of 2021 (here) has its usual mix of salt and freshwater. Some interesting items:

• Recreational fishers call for proper research and data to manage Batemans Marine Park
• UTAS Science of Fishing online course
• Does the NSW Recreational Fishing Trust Need an INDEPENDENT Audit?

The first of the new year has been released here

Topical items are:

• Fish screens – benefits for fish, fishers, irrigators, communities
• A number of items on natives especially Murray Cod, in particular the relocation of rescued cod
• More on feral horses and Federal Government action
• NSW fishing licence will be valid on Lake Hume in a 12 month trial this year

Did you see this one?

https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7042609/federal-push-for-alpine-wild-horse-cull/?cs=9676

” Alpine river guide Richard Swain showed Ms Ley through the landscape he grew up on

…

“Destruction is across the entire ecosystem,” Mr Swain, a Wiradjuri man, told AAP.

…

The horses also trampled sediment into creeks, which affected fish breeding, Mr Swain said.”

I wonder how real is this funding and will it be actually actioned given the KNP is a NSW state asset.

Arrived after publication of our Dec newsletter. Some interesting stuff here folks:

• Murray Cod season opened today
• Roundup – friend or foe? – a report here that seeks to understand the chemical
• Fish passage a priority issue for the NSWCFA – a lot of detail on the issue, including a description of the NSW Government initiative looking at the matter … think reducing barriers to fish migration
• Got walking shoes and a camera? You can help Reclaim Kosci this summer. – assistance sought in identifying brumby locations
• Platypuses continuing to die because of COVID-19? – NSWCFA, as part of the Platypus Alliance, have been pushing the NSW Government to put in place the regulatory mechanisms to ban Opera House traps – known to kill platypus. The most recent correspondence with the various ministers has blamed COVID restrictions on the lack of action.
• Latest NSWCFA Executive and General Meetings

This arrived just too late for the Nov Burley Line and is available here. A few items of interest:

• Changes to Crown reserve management in Snowy Monaro – Council, in collaboration with SLR Consulting, are seeking feedback from users and stakeholders of the Crown Reserves to better understand their use and future management objectives. The community can provide feedback online through Your Say Snowy Monaro, in writing to Council, or by attending a drop-in session (bookings required).
• Second chance for petition to urge action against out-of-control horse numbers – an e-petition has been started. While the NSWCFA Newsletter indicates that visitors to KNP can sign, my attempt failed – seems you have to be a resident of NSW to have a say …. I’m chasing with the originators of this release (Reclaim Kosci).
• Environment NSW update on feral horse removal from KNP – “The program is focused on controlling horses in three fire-impacted management areas. These areas cover 9% of the park. All horses are being removed from the Nungar plain area. Horse populations in the Cooleman and Kiandra areas are being reduced towards a sustainable level.” More explanation in the newsletter
• Latest NSWCFA Executive Meeting – The NSW CFA Executive Committee met by Zoom on 28 October. Notes are in the newsletter – the Exec has been pretty busy and getting some results.