Fish Florida (aka the Florida Foundation for Responsible Angling) helps people, especially children, get hooked by donating fishing equipment, grants and scholarships to Florida aquatic education, marine resource stewardship and ethical angling programs. At least 75% of our funds go to our programs and no more than 10% is used on marketing or 15% for administration.

Over the past 5 years, funds from the sailfish license plate have supported:

• 14 scholarships for university students pursuing marine science degrees
• 99 grants, totaling $500,000, to organizations educating people about Florida’s marine resources
• 450 kids fishing clinics with over 90,000 fishing rods and reels so children can learn how to fish and be ethical anglers

Fishing is one way to get kids outdoors and participating in a healthy, fun activity.

A recent Florida Youth Fishing Program Summit attracted a wide diversity of folks who are committed to teaching young people about recreational fishing. A common theme emerged: Recreational fishing is fun and gets young people outdoors to engage in a healthy, lifelong activity that enhances their quality of life and encourages them to become conservation stewards. And there are plenty of programs out there to encourage fishing activities.

Karen Blyler, with the Florida 4-H Youth Development Program, took the lead in spearheading the summit. She pulled together sponsors, including Fish Florida and Florida Sea Grant, to bring together dozens of individuals who are actively involved not only in teaching young Floridians how to fish, but also in guiding them as mentors in the many positive lifestyle benefits that lifelong anglers enjoy. Fishing is a gateway experience that connects people of all ages to our natural heritage and many of our core values as a society.

Many organizations shared information on programs that show youths the benefits of fishing. Florida Sea Grant ensures sustainable fisheries and teaches about the need for proper catch-and-release. County Sea Grant agents around the state have kits designed to help in this effort.

Fishing for Success is a program conducted primarily on the University of Florida campus in Gainesville. It began after a request from the local sheriff’s office to offer a non-contact outdoor sports activity that provides mentoring and career counseling to underprivileged youths.

Fish Florida is a non-profit organization that uses funds collected from the extra fees on the purchase of the sailfish specialty tag. These funds are used for fishing education grants and scholarships and provide free tackle for youth participants in outreach programs across Florida.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) fisheries education and outreach programs, both freshwater and saltwater, hold numerous clinics and train-the-trainer sessions for Hooked on Fishing – Not on Drugs throughout the year. The saltwater fishing clinic protocol was one of the most highly rated resources identified by participants, along with the Kids Fishing Activity book published by the FWC.

Capt. Wayne Conn, owner of the Reward Fishing Fleet, is passionate about giving youths an opportunity to enjoy fishing from his charter boat, where he can take 50 kids and 20 mentors at a time. MOTE sponsors “Kids Cup,” a fishing tournament to evaluate how well red drum are surviving stock-enhancement efforts by the FWC. NOAA allows anglers to check out rods and reels and encourages monofilament recycling. NOAA is also working on a new ethical angling program.

The Florida Fishing Academy is a non-profit organization that provides fishing-related programs in 17 schools. The Youth Environmental Alliance, which teaches a similar after-school course, has created its own materials as well. The Environmental Conservation Organization provides supplemental courses in life sciences for schools and fishing clinics for Boy Scouts.

The Mahogany Youth Corporation teaches angling skills, positive aspirations and goal-setting. The classes focus on helping parents overcome fears of the water and the outdoors.

Pete Della Ratta, a physical education teacher from Woodlawn Beach Middle School, showed participants how fishing can be incorporated into school programs. His efforts allowed 380 students to become involved in a fully integrated program centered on recreational fishing and conservation.

National Teen Anglers is a program that spun off from a local FWC fisheries outreach effort in Kissimmee. They now have a 12-part curriculum and chapters in six states that create after-school or club fishing teams for 12-20 year olds and encourage scholarship and career development.

Tommy Thompson, Executive Director of the Florida Outdoor Writers Association, leverages kids’ enthusiasm for fishing to lead youths into photojournalism careers. Rodney Smith, founder of Anglers for Conservation, received the Bass Pro Shops’ Pass-it-On Award for teaching kids through fishing about applied science and conservation.

As the executive chair of Get Outdoors Florida! (www.GetOutdoorsFlorida.org), I am proud to be involved with projects that bring together partners who provide a diversity of active, nature-based recreational opportunities with the goal of helping more youths lead happier, healthier and smarter lifestyles. We cast a broad net, using partners’ outreach events around the state and then guiding participants into more in-depth educational opportunities, such as camps, that can be provided via the evolving Florida Youth Conservation Center Network (MyFWC.com/Youth).

With all the energy and synergism coming from this group, it is no wonder we decided to stay in touch and continue developing and refining programs to engage youths in a lifetime of responsible recreational fishing.

Give fishing fun to kids ages 6 to 17 with the Kids Let’s Go Fishing! program. Each adult pays $40 and can bring one child FREE. Additional children are $10 each. Space is limited so call now to register! (305) 372-9470

7/23, 8/13: SEA LEGS III, 5400 N Ocean Dr (A1A), Hollywood
7/24, 8/14, 9/4: THE KELLEY FLEET, Haulover Park Marina 10800 Collins Ave, Miami Beach
7/28, 8/18: HELEN S VI, 2705 North Riverside Dr, Pompano Beach
8/8, 9/5: THE REWARD FLEET, Miami Beach Marina 390 Alton Rd, Miami Beach
8/12: SEA MIST III, 700 Casa Loma Blvd, Boynton Beach

The summer fishing program is dedicated to providing kids and their families with a fun and educational fishing experience. Kids Let’s Go Fishing! encourages ethical angling for future generations by helping children develop an appreciation of Florida’s unique marine ecosystems.

Prior to fishing, you and the kids will learn fishing and boating safety, fishing rules & regulations, use of tackle, and proper fish-handling and release techniques. Aboard the charter boat, you’ll fish on inshore reefs with light tackle (donated by Fish Florida!) and barbless circle hooks. So kids can catch these fish another day, all fish will be released.

Tackle, bait and fishing licenses are included. Please bring water, sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and snacks.

This is a partnership of the Fishing and Conservation Trust, Miami-Dade Cooperative Extension Sea Grant Program and South Florida fishing fleets. Learn more at www.kidsletsgofishing.com or call the Miami-Dade Cooperative Extension Sea Grant program at (305) 421-4017.

In June of this year, the LSU AgCenter started a local monofilament recovery and recycling program for used fishing line. It is a local effort to educate the public on the problems caused by monofilament line left in the environment, to encourage recycling through a network of line-recycling bins and drop-off locations, and to conduct volunteer monofilament line cleanup events.

Recycling bins like these can be seen at local boat launches and fishing piers in Terrebonne and Lafourche parish. These bins are part of the LSU AgCenter’s monofilament recovery and recycling program. La. Sea Grant Marine Extension Program and LSU AgCenter’s local America’s Wetland Conservation Corps members will continue to install and maintain recovery bins at boat launches and fishing piers in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

After a column explaining the program appeared in The Courier, the LSU AgCenter received several e-mails concerning alternatives to using monofilament fishing line. It seems that even fishing line has gone “green.”

A doctor from Portland, Ore., who specialized in medical sutures that dissolve in the human body after surgery created a great new product. Most petroleum-based monofilament fishing line stays in the environment for 500 years. Even then it only photodegrades. It does not biodegrade. The new BioLINE works like normal line for a year then dissolves to a trace amount of carbon dioxide and water.

“While we always encourage retrieving any broken line, safety and practicality sometimes make that impossible,” the manufacturer’s Web site states. “With our biodegradable line, nature has a fighting chance. Traditional monofilament fishing lines endanger and obstruct habitat for over 600 years. New braided super-lines, even longer. We found a better solution. Bioline biofilament fishing line biodegrades in the environment in five years. Further during years 2-5 it is significantly degraded permitting wildlife to easily break free should accidental entanglement occur.”

The concept of biodegradable fishing line was first advanced at a company that made medical sutures – the stitches that dissolve in the human body after surgery. After years of development, testing, technological and manufacturing advances, they released Bioline: America’s first biodegradable fishing line.

Bioline looks and feels like any Lo-Vis, Clear, Traditional Monofilament line. You will notice superior casting distance and exceptional knot strength, along with outstanding ultraviolet and abrasion resistance. Bioline does not absorb water like traditional monofilaments, and its characteristics do not change as it’s fished. And yes, should you break off a leader or length of line, it will be gone in five years versus 600. Even the storage spool is biodegradeable. Stored in its original package, Bioline has a five-year shelf life. Once spooled on a reel, the line will retain 100 percent of its strength for a period of 10 to 12 months, with no special handling.

Instructions for tournament-strength results include – Store Bioline unopened in its foil pouch until ready for use. Spool on reel. Wet knots prior to tightening. Change Bioline every season or on nine month intervals in year-round fisheries.

The difference between Bioline and nylon monofilaments, fluorocarbon, Spectra and Dyneema fiber lines is found in what happens once it comes off the reel, whether lost due to breakage or discarded as garbage. In roughly five years, Bioline degrades in the environment to a minimal quantity of carbon dioxide and water. Nylon monofilaments remain for 600 years, fluorocarbon longer, Spectra and Dyneema even longer. Bioline represents a 99 percent reduction in the active life of the line in the environment.

The problems with traditional lines in the environment extend well beyond being a nuisance and an eyesore. Direct ingestion, wildlife entanglement and destruction of corals have all been documented with respect to fishing lines. Given the life span of traditional materials, fishermen has only continued to add to the problem over decades, with centuries to go before the natural decomposition of the first nylon lines ever lost is complete.

Bioline embraces the best of technology, delivering the performance and handling of nylon monofilament within the working life of the line, yet containing its overall lifespan within years rather than centuries. While angler ethics have dramatically altered how fishermen handle fish and four-stroke outboards have refined marine power, Bioline offers an intelligent alternative in fishing line for the future of habitats.

Spool Weight: 3 ounces/85 grams. Capacity: 210 yards. Strengths: 4-, 6-, 8-, 10- and 12-pound test. More sizes coming soon.

By David A. Bourgeois – an area agent with the LSU AgCenter. He can be reached at the office, 511 Roussell St., Houma, 873-6495 or dbourgeois@agctr.lsu.edu

“Fish Florida is supporting outstanding organizations who are offering exciting opportunities for children to learn about fishing. Many children who have never been on a boat or caught a fish will have their first experience; it can be the start of a life-ling hobby,” said Lara Kramer, Director of Fish Florida. “We also want to thank everyone who purchased the Fish Florida license plate. It is what makes our programs possible.”

Fish Florida’s funding comes from the Fish Florida specialty license plate, featuring Florida’s saltwater fish – the sailfish. Anglers, boaters, and others purchase thousands of Fish Florida plates, demonstrating their dedication to the future of their sport.

At least 75% of every dollar from license plate proceeds is used for programs, with less than 25% being spent on administration and marketing. The Fish Florida plate is for sale at local Department of Motor Vehicle offices or link to online purchasing through Fish Florida’s website at www.fishfloridatag.org.

Buying the Fish Florida license plate is just one way to help. Fish Florida encourages you to spread the word about its programs, ask for posters or bumper stickers you can give away, and volunteer to teach kids to fish.

Fish Florida is a non-profit organization created in 1998 to cast awareness on Florida fisheries and aquatic habitats. Fish Florida supports organizations teaching people, especially children, about fishing, freshwater and marine habitats, and aquatic resource stewardship. Since its founding in 1998, Fish Florida has helped over 100,000 children participate in fishing clinics throughout Florida.

Fish Florida programs (rod and reel donations, grants, and scholarships) are available to organizations teaching aquatic education or kids’ fishing clinics in Florida. More information about how to apply for these programs is available on the Fish Florida website.

Kids’ fishing clinic photos and a detailed list of rod and reel, grant, and scholarship recipients are available. Please contact Lara Kramer at fishflorida@bellsouth.net, 954-927-8361 for more information.