There is a persisting need to provide for the continued planning and implementation of targeted and effective Research, Development and Extension (RDE) activities that address regional and national priorities for the recreational fishing community. In consultation with the newly established Recreational Fishing Council, the project team plan to implement a robust and inclusive annual process for the identification of regional and national R&D priorities for Australia's recreational fishers. The proposed approach will deliver increased complementarity between state/territory and national R&D planning processes. This project will also enable Australia's recreational fishing community to become more engaged in the active management of projects addressing regional and national priorities, and will increase the visibility of R&D activities to a national audience.

This project will address several national RD&E priorities within FRDC's RD&E plan 2010-2015, including assisting the fishing community to understand the vulnerability of fish stocks and ecosystems to climate change (Theme 3), improving knowledge of the biology of target species (Theme 4), assisting development of techniques for incorporating social and economic information from recreational fishers into harvest strategy evaluation systems and enhancing adoption of best practice by rec fishers and understanding of their demographics, motivations, catch and effort (Theme 4), enhancing participation in co-management (Theme 5), and clarifying the rights of recreational fishers, and other stakeholder expectations about resource access and allocation (Theme 6).