News
US Study Tour brings NEATFish under the spotlight
(13/04/2009)
After the World Recreational Fishing Conference a Study Tour organised by Frank Prokop of RecFishWest and sponsored by the FRDC kicked off with the bus ride down to Key West. Several Australian recreational fishing representatives attended the study tour with the aim of learning more about recreational fisheries management issues in the USA. We met with representatives of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the authority responsible for management of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. They were interested with the potential for use of NEATFish to set a minimum standard for tournament activities in marine parks. A chance meeting with the proprietor of Key West fishing tackle shop The Saltwater Angler who runs a catch and release tournament for sharks which is televised on ESPN was a welcome bonus – we have tournament contacts in the US now if we require them !
Two days later we met in St Petersburg FL with the scientists behind the red drum marine enhancement program, after which we flew to Washington DC to meet with Frank Peterson Jr of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation (RBFF). The RBFF utilise 2% of the massive $600+ million US Sportfish Restoration Fund to promote recreational fishing initiatives throughout the country. The RBFF were very interested in NEATFish and we have entered into discussions with them to explore how we can implement NEATFish in the USA through their organization. Then it was on to Virginia to meet with scientists at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.
The study tour provided a unique opportunity to develop valuable collaborative relationships – for more information on the outcomes of the study tour check out its blog at http://recfishstudytour.blogspot.com/.
