OZFISH are hoping to reel in an audience of fishers to One28 Doors next month for their Fish Focus Forum.
On Wednesday, June 28, at 6.30pm, the free, two-hour forum will focus on both the conservation of Australia’s national fish population as well as general fishing advice.
Attendees will hear from guest speakers, Colby Lesko and Lubin Pfeiffer two well-known recreational fishermen and masters of catching the famous Murray Cod.
The pair will share tips from their wealth of Australian fishing knowledge, while helping spread the word about the importance of fish habitat restoration.
Also speaking will be OzFish’s Murray Darling Basin program manager, Braeden Lampard and North Central Catchment Management Authority’s project manager, Peter Rose.
OZFish’s Northern Victoria project manager Michelle Slater said it was important to educate communities about keeping fish populations strong.
“We’ve been running Fish Focus Forums all around Australia,” she said. “Whilst we have run a few in Mildura previously, this will be a first for Swan Hill. If the event is successful, it’s something that we will look to bring back once or twice a year.
“OzFish Unlimited is a not-for-profit organisation that is dedicated to helping the millions of Aussie recreational fishers take control of the health of their waterways and shore up the future of the sport they love.
“We would love for recreational fishers to join up as members of OzFish, we have projects that fisherman can get involved in that really assists in protecting our rivers.”
Ms Slater said protecting inland river systems is a complex task.
“We’ve got a major challenge ahead of us, we’ve got decades of degradation to our inland river systems,” she said.
“But there is plenty of hands-on things we can do and things that recreational fishers can do as well.
“We can look at reinstalling habitat back into the river system, things like rocky reefs and woody snags that have been removed from rivers as well as improving the riparian vegetation that grows along our river system.
“We all know that we live in a pretty special part of Victoria.”We’ve got multiple rivers and lakes on our doorstep and some really great fishing spots.”
Murray Darling Basin program manager Braeden Lampard said the forums are for anyone with an interest in recreational fishing.
“It’s aimed at all ages from the young to the young at heart,” he said. “We want the community to know what’s going on so they can understand the connection between fish habitat restoration and improving fishing in local waterways.
“To achieve this we need to collaborate with people from all types of backgrounds and give them the opportunity and tools to get involved.”
While the event is free of charge, registration for the forum is essential. Anyone interested can register through the OzFish website, or for those unable to do so online they can contact Michelle Slater directly at michelleslater@ozfish.org.au
