News

Aquarius Reef Base, the world’s only operating undersea research laboratory, will use their $10,000.00 grant award for its “Teacher Under the Sea” mission in November. This exciting event will be the first time a teacher has ever lived and worked with the other aquanauts and will share the experience through telepresence broadcasts, video conferencing, and online interactions.

The Fishing and Conservation Trust will use their $3,300.00 and 200 rod and reel combos to run Children's Fishing Clinics in partnership with the International Game Fish Association and the Youth Fishing Foundation. They will conduct fishing clinics to encourage families to fish together and learn on-water and angling safety, rod handling and casting, terminal tackle and knot tying, bait handling, catch and release ethics, fish identification, and Florida’s fishing regulations.

Florida Sea Grant will use their $9,500.00 grant award for a Dolphin-Friendly Fishing Outreach Program to educate anglers about the problems of feeding dolphin and proper dolphin-friendly fishing practices. Sea Grant will produce dolphin/angler interaction tip cards, use and distribute a 30-sec PSA "Don't Feed Wild Dolphins", construct and distribute mini-monofilament recycling bins, and create fishing line recycling educational displays.

The Larry Hatchett Fishing Foundation will use their $8,000.00 grant award to take foster home children from across the southeastern United States to the Florida Panhandle to learn about fishing and being a good angler; it’s also an amazing opportunity for the children to build self-esteem.

Mahogany Youth Corporation will use their $10,000.00 grant award for their "Teach a Child to Fish" Summer Camps.
During the 10-weeks of summer camp, children will learn fishing skills like casting, lures and bait, catch and release, knots, fishing ethics, fish biology, and water safety. Children will also discuss social issues like coping with stress, setting goals, and saying no to drugs. Mahogany uses fishing to teach children self-esteem and a new hobby. The funds will provide scholarships for children who cannot afford to attend the camp.

Three Captains will use their $11,000.00 grant award to run Kids' Educational Fishing Programs. Students will take a trip aboard Miami’s Reward Fleet head boats to learn about habitat, conservation, fishing regulations, ethics, and technique.

These grant awards were made possible thanks to the people who purchased the Fish Florida license plate. Fish Florida's next grant awards will be decided in December 2008.

Together, we've worked hard to help a lot of children learn fishing and conservation. Look what has been accomplished with that Fish Florida license plate you bought. Thanks! That's a lot of happy kids.

July 2005 - July 2008
37 Grant Awards - $260,000.00
Rod & Reel Combos Donated - 47,000
Tackle Kits Donated- 40,000
Kids Fishing Clinics held, in 60 Florida Cities - 200
Created an Endowment Fund - $200,000.00

Wow, there are so many great opportunities for kids to get involved in fishing across the state of Florida. If you want to learn freshwater or saltwater fishing, there are clinics for you.

So far this year, Fish Florida has awarded fishing equipment to more than 40 kids' fishing clinics from Pensacola to Key West. Check our events page for updates and email us if you would like to learn more about kids' fishing events in your area.

August 24, 2007

You own a four stroke outboard to power your fishing boat, you use nontoxic sinkers; you never throw anything overboard except when casting a fishing lure attached to your line; how can you be polluting the lakes that you fish?

If you are using soft plastic lures you may be unknowingly contributing to a growing problem when you lose a lure on bottom or when a fish breaks it off your line. These lures come in a variety of designs to mimic crayfish, salamanders, worms, minnows, etc. Most soft plastic baits sold today are not biodegradable. In other words, they do not readily breakdown in the environment. That means they persist for a very long time on the lake bottom and can be picked up by fish and other aquatic life, and mistakenly eaten as food. This can seriously harm the ability of these animals to feed and grow. The physical presence of the lures on the lake bottom also cover important habitat and may release chemicals called phthalates. Phthalates are cancer causing and can affect reproductive capability.

So what's the big deal, a few lures here and there seems miniscule compared to the amount of water that is open to fishing. It may not seem like an issue but Maine has nearly 250,000 anglers, and with the increased popularity of fishing with soft plastic lures and a 7-month fishing season, these persistent pollutants can accumulate.

It is said that the bottom of Lake Okeechobee, a popular fishing lake in Florida, is coated with enough soft plastic lures to make a pile large enough to cushion a tank dropped from a plane! There may not be the same magnitude of a problem here in Maine at this time, but it may only take a few more years for some of the more heavily fished lakes to start significantly accumulating these soft plastics.

The good news is that you don't need to stop fishing with these effective lures to help to deal with this problem. Several companies are now offering biodegradable versions that in some cases may be even more effective than original soft plastics. Companies like Advanced Angler Technology (AAT), Berkley and Food Source Lures produce baits that can break down in as little as three weeks. Some of them can also be safely eaten by fish with no ill effects. The prices for the lures are also very competitive with current soft plastics. If your local supplier does not stock biodegradable lures, request that they order some for you. In the meantime, the lures are readily available from online suppliers. If you are a member of one of Maine's fishing clubs, suggest that the use of biodegradable lures become club policy and that the club work with local suppliers to ensure that they stock them in their stores.

Anglers have always been known as advocates for clean water. Switching to biodegradable lures will continue that tradition and will ensure that future generations will be able to continue to enjoy Maine's precious water resources.

This column was submitted by Bill Laflamme, an Environmental Specialist with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. In Our Back Yard is a weekly column of the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. E-mail your environmental questions to infodep@maine.gov or send them to In Our Back Yard, Maine DEP, 17 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333.
From the Department of Environmental Protection, State of Maine - http://www.maine.gov/tools/whatsnew/index.php?topic=IOB&id=41264&v=Article

Hollywood, FL - This summer, more than 6,300 children learned that fishing is fun. Fish Florida donated 6,376 rods, reels, and tackle kits to 27 organizations hosting kids's fishing clinics in 28 Florida communities.

From Apollo Beach to West Palm Beach, Florida communities took advantage of great weather, children's curiosity, and good fishing to hold fishing summer camps, clinics, derbys, trips, and tournaments.

During these events, children built self-esteem learning new skills, met new friends, and discovered new things about the environment around them. As one child said, "there are some crazy fish out here; they are big, really big!" For many of the kids, activities like learning to cast, touching a horseshoe crab, baiting their hook, and boating were first time experiences.

The kids aren't the only ones who enjoyed the experience. Over 1,000 volunteers joined the children to share their love of fishing and the environment. They did it to build better citizens and to introduce kids to the great outdoors and their favorite sport. Families benefitted too by sharing an activity they can do together.