Florida Fish Busters December 2005 Freshwater Fisheries SummitsExpress Yourself By: Bob Wattendorf, Florida Fish and

Wildlife Conservation Commission The Division of Freshwater Fisheries Managements mission is To Manage, Enhance and Conserve Floridas Freshwater Aquatic Life for Public Benefit. This is accomplished by attempting to provide optimum-sustained use of our fisheries. Science lets us understand what we can and cannot do to make certain that we sustain native species, so they can survive and thrive. It is our principle goal. Use implies that public benefit is important and that we are not going to preserve fisheries by simply cutting off public access. However, to accomplish our mission fully, we must know what our stakeholders consider optimum for specific fisheries. To that end, the Division has been working hard to determine what our anglers want from their fisheries and to involve them in implementing creative solutions. The first step was an on-line survey that was advertised in newspapers and by e-mails to individuals who signed up on our Web site (MyFWC.com) and asked to be kept informed. An outstanding response by more than 1,500 individuals gave us some important preliminary insights. First, there is a perception that we are doing quite well (15% scored us an A, 45% a B and only 3% failing), but we have plenty of room to grow. It is our intent to improve Floridas freshwater fisheries and the level of satisfaction expressed by our customers both regarding the quality of the resource and our service. Second, the public felt that top threats to our fisheries are (numbers are how many people suggested the response on their own):
Pollution Population Growth/Development Over Crowding/Fishing Pressure Water Quality Law Violators 148 88 39 33 25

Third, respondents indicated the biggest opportunities to enhance fisheries are:

Habitat Enhancement Eliminate Point Source Pollutions Increase Fishing Access Law Enforcement (increase patrol, stricter penalties) Stock more Freshwater Sport Fish 60 56 53 49 48

To learn more about public concerns and suggestions for how to improve freshwater fisheries, the survey also asked if the respondent would be willing to attend a town hall meeting, and if so how far they would travel and what time of the week and day would be best for them. As a result, the Division of Fisheries is conducting six separate Freshwater Fishing Summit meetings with the public. The first was in Sebring on September 24, 2005 and the last is in Tallahassee on January 7, 2006. The complete results of the survey, the action summaries of local problems and solutions and schedule for upcoming summits are all posted at MyFWC.com/Fishing/Input. From there, you can also sign up to come to a local summit to become more involved in ensuring the optimum-sustained use of your fisheries for today and tomorrow.