Bass Angler Magazine

New Grants to Improve Fishing Habitat

fishing habitat grants availableFishAmerica Foundation Awards Four Habitat Improvement Grants

The grassroots projects will improve water quality and aquatic habitat

Alexandria, Va. – November 12, 2019 – The FishAmerica Foundation, in conjunction with the Brunswick Public Foundation, has selected four grassroots organizations that are working to improve water quality and aquatic habitat for funding under this cooperative partnership. The FishAmerica Foundation is the fisheries research and conservation arm of the American Sportfishing Association (ASA).

These funded projects are:

  • The Harry and Laura Nohr Chapter of Trout Unlimited will restore almost two miles of trout habitat along a stretch of Wisconsin’s Blue River, a class II trout stream. The project will provide natural in-stream cover and promote natural trout reproduction; reduce erosion and silt build-up; and pare back excessive overhead tree cover. 
  • The Namakagon Lake Association of Cable, Wis., received funding for its “Lake Namakagon Fish Stick Project.” This grassroots effort will create 17 woody complexes near Lake Namakagon’s shoreline which will improve walleye habitat as part of a larger walleye habitat restoration project. 
  • The Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, located in Seattle, Wash., will use its funds to remove marine debris from the shorelines of the San Juan Islands area of the Salish Sea as well as marine debris and garbage throughout the San Juan Islands waters. Staff, volunteers and partners will remove the debris brought in by the large winter storms. 
  • The Atlantic Coastal Fish Habitat Partnership, a subchapter of the National Fish Habitat program, will restore degraded, nearshore Florida Keys habitat with nursery-grown sponges which will encourage fisheries repopulation by grouper and snapper.  

Project proposals were reviewed by a selection team that included fisheries and aquatic resources professionals.

“I’d like to thank the Brunswick Public Foundation for their continued support of the FishAmerica Foundation and the many projects that have come to fruition because of their leadership and generosity,” remarked ASA’s President Glenn Hughes.

Hughes noted, “Funding provided to these grassroots projects through FishAmerica’s partnership with Brunswick will be matched at least three times that amount in addition to the significant number of volunteer hours. Teams of volunteers devote countless hours to conservation and habitat restoration projects which benefit the local communities that depend on healthy and accessible fisheries.”

Each project relies on substantial volunteer labor and additional support from local groups concerned with restoring and enhancing environmental conditions that can support healthy sportfish populations while providing public access to fishing opportunities.

These projects also have the endorsement of the state’s natural resources agency to ensure their technical efficacy as well as to ensure that they meet the resource management and water quality goals of those states.

“The Brunswick Public Foundation has a long history of supporting quality conservation projects in partnership with FishAmerica and greatly appreciates the diligence and care FishAmerica uses when selecting projects for funding. Projects like these make a huge positive difference in the states where they are located,” said Jim Hubbard, Brunswick Public Foundation board president.

The FishAmerica Foundation is the American Sportfishing Association’s conservation and research foundation. We unite the sportfishing industry with conservation groups, government natural resource agencies, corporations and foundations to invest in sportfish and habitat conservation and research across the country. Since 1983, the FishAmerica Foundation has awarded $12.1 million to 1,007 projects in all fifty states and Canada to enhance fish populations, restore fishery habitats, improve water quality and advance fishery research to improve sportfishing opportunities and help ensure recreational fishing’s future.

Established in 1997, the Brunswick Public Foundation is a not-for-profit Corporation that supports community development primarily through contributions to local United Way Chapters and health and wellness organizations. In addition, the Foundation supports organizations that enhance the country’s water resources for the recreational use by the public.

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The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) is the sportfishing industry’s trade association committed to representing the interests of the sportfishing and boating industries as well as the entire sportfishing community. We give the industry and anglers a unified voice when emerging laws and policies could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing itself. ASA invests in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain strong and prosperous, as well as safeguard and promote the enduring economic, conservation and social values of sportfishing in America.
ASA also gives America’s 49 million anglers a voice in policy decisions that affect their ability to sustainably fish on our nation’s waterways through Keep America Fishing, our national angler advocacy campaign. America’s anglers generate nearly $50 billion in retail sales with a $125 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for 800,000 people.

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