Florida's Freshwater Fisheries Roundtable

The Florida Freshwater Fisheries Roundtable was created to bring stakeholders together to discuss challenges and collaborative solutions that will bring about significant improvements in the quality of Florida's Freshwater Fisheries.  It is the logical follow-up to a series of public surveys (PDF file; 214 kb), and zone summits  that were held around the state in 2005-2006 to obtain public opinion on the quality of Florida's freshwater fisheries and to create a vision for their future.  Through this process the Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management will continue to work with the public and key stakeholders in cooperative and creative ways to manage, enhance and preserve Florida’s freshwater aquatic life for public benefit.

The first meeting of the Roundtable was held on October 19, 2007 in Celebration, Florida (Minutes, Issues, Priorities; PDF 340 kb).  Members were invited from a wide diversity of backgrounds to represent various interests, such as outdoor writers, university professors, fishing tackle manufacturers and retailers, fishing tournament sponsors, professional fishing guides and others who hold a stake in the future of Florida’s freshwater fisheries.

The meeting (see photo gallery) was professionally facilitated to ensure everyone's ideas were objectively captured.  A report of their input will be available in the near future.  See FishBusters (PDF; 110 kb) for a related article.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

(May 2008):

The 2008 Legislative Session is over, as Executive Director Ken Haddad said, "In probably the worst state budget year in the history of Florida, we have much to be grateful for even though much needed raises were not realized. We can be thankful that no jobs were lost and funding for our existing programs remains strong. This means we can continue to make a difference in Florida to conserve our fish and wildlife resources." 

One of the most exciting and challenging outcomes of the session is a type-two transfer (complete transfer or responsibility, personnel, equipment and funding) of the Bureau of Invasive Plant Management within DEP to FWC and transfers specific permitting authority relating to aquatic plants and invasive nonnative plants to DACS.  The details still need to be worked out but it will occur during the next fiscal year (July 2008-June 2009) and provide FWC with more direct control and responsibility within Legislative guidelines, rather than being a third-party commenting agency.

The repeal of the shoreline exemption for resident saltwater anglers did not pass.

(April 2008):

The Vision Document was presented to the FWC Commission in April 2008 and accepted (Presentation PDF, 536KB; Article PDF).

(January 2008):

The first draft of the Vision Document has been drafted and is available for review and comment.

In addition a series of new regulations will also be recommended including those affecting Lake Okeechobee, cast net fishing, and Fish Management Areas.

(October 2007):

The Division is working with the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation on a Direct Mail marketing campaign that will help prioritize lapsed anglers (one's who have not renewed their license but are statistically most likely to if reminded).  These anglers will receive a number of prompts (e.g., e-mail, post-card, letter) reminding them to renew their license and explaining how license fees are used.  We are soliciting offers from retailers and others that would help defray the cost of license by providing a value-added benefit to encourage renewal and promoting partner brands/products and services.  Contact Bob Wattendorf, if you have a suggestion.

The Division is working with Florida Fishing Weekly on a welcome wrapper for anglers that purchase a fishing license.  Within two weeks they will receive a free sample of Florida Fishing Weekly with an 8-page wrapper that is paid for entirely by advertising revenues.  The wrapper contains information on how license fees are used, fishing ethics, fish identification and tips, and points anglers to the Web or point-of-sale license agents for current regulations.  Ultimately, this will provide very valuable conservation information at no-cost to the state to over a million anglers per year. This is a non-exclusive opportunity to use the license data base in an innovative way that does not imply an endorsement from FWC or the state for the paper, its editorial content, or the products and services advertised therein.

The FWC is also working on an education grant from the Conservation Fund pertaining to the National Forum on Children and Nature.  Big Brothers Big Sisters Association of Florida is our partner on the application.  However, if we receive the grant, we expect to work with a wide-range of groups that provide nature-based educational opportunities to youth in Florida.  An umbrella conservation message for approved programs will help bring together these groups that are willing to follow certain educational guidelines and document and evaluate their involvement.  A second tier weekend-long immersion program will take place at FWC youth camps, or other suitable venues, where a youth and their mentor can receive more intense training.  These efforts will be carefully evaluated to determine their effectiveness in reaching specific educational goals. The preliminary application was approved and we are now in the final phase.  From 500 applications, we were one of 90 to go on to the finals and 20 will ultimately become pilot projects.  Contact Bob Wattendorf, if you have a suggestion.

RESOURCES (as mentioned during the roundtable):

Quarterly fishing forecasts for major lakes and rivers and the annual predictions for the top bass, bream, catfish, crappie and striper fishing can be found at TOP SITES and FORECASTS.

Freshwater fish identification and tips can be found at FISH IDENTIFICATION and TIPS, respectively.

DEP's Aquatic Vegetation control program information is at:  AQUATIC PLANT MANAGEMENT

UF's Lake Watch program is at:  LAKE WATCH

1000 Friends of Florida's 2060 Forecast is at:  FLORIDA 2060 (pdf 720 kb)

Fishing economics:  See FAQ on Economic Value of freshwater fishing in Florida.

Executive Order on Recreational Fishing:  EO-12962

License Fee Changes for October 2008:  License Fee Article

Boating Access issues from the Division of Law Enforcement, ramp locations and grants, (eventually the contract study on boating access needs and values will be here too):  Boating and Waterways

The 2005 Freshwater Fisheries Management On-line Survey that led to the zone-summits and the results of the six zone summits are available at:  MyFWC.com/Fishing/Input/.