Anglers know little of Fish & Game’s work, survey finds
AS Otago anglers complain about licence fees, Fish & Game is ensuring them the money is being spent on making the sport sustainable.
The Otago Fish & Game Council this week released a survey of 745 of its fishing licence holders.
In an open question about how it could improve value, by far the most common suggestion was cheaper licence prices, which was suggested by 235 people.
Council chief executive Ian Hadland said the survey answers also showed many licence holders did not have a good idea of the wider work the council did.
This included pushing for cleaner waterways, teaching others to fish and protecting spawning sites.
‘‘Perceptions about value for money are all about how you do the measuring.
‘‘They might measure the value for money by the number of fish that they catch, but for us it’s also about investing in the wider aspect of the sport.’’
The council saw it needed to communicate its work better.
‘‘We could do better at letting them know the type of work we’re doing.’’
The survey also showed its Otago fishing licence holders were more than 95% men.
This was something the council was ‘‘conscious of’’.
‘‘It’s easy to see women are underrepresented.’’
It aimed to shift the ratio slightly by targeting whole families, he said.