Support FishAmerica’s Gulf Fund

FishAmerica Gulf Fund Supports Gulf Coast Restoration Efforts
The FishAmerica Foundation has expanded its Gulf Fund grant program to include fisheries and their habitats that are expected to be impacted by the continuing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. The Gulf Fund was established in 2005 to provide funding for restoring fisheries habitat and recreational fishing facilities devastated by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) now estimates that between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels (or 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons) of oil is being released into the Gulf of Mexico each day with disastrous effects on the region's fish and wildlife. The foundation will work with state and federal natural resource agencies and local community conservation groups to identify and prioritize projects such as wetland creation and restoration, aquatic vegetation planting, restoring fish habitat and rebuilding angler access in the Gulf Region. “Although no one is certain of the long-term impacts of the oil leak, the FishAmerica Foundation is prepared to step up and assist local groups with funding to restore sportfisheries and their habitat once the restoration efforts begin,” said FishAmerica Foundation Executive Director Johanna Laderman. According to a 2008 NOAA Fisheries report, the Gulf of Mexico is one of the most popular areas for recreational fishing in the United States with nearly six million saltwater anglers, taking over 45 million fishing trips each year, fishing for red drum, spotted seatrout, sheepshead and red snapper among others. In Recreational fishing serves as the economic backbone for many coastal communities surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill has the potential to impact the nearly 2,300 tackle shops in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida's West Coast. The six million anglers combines resident and non-resident saltwater anglers in Alabama, Florida's West Coast, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas who fish in the Gulf of Mexico.

We Need Your Help!
Please click on the link below to donate to the FishAmerica Gulf Fund. Your donations will help FishAmerica provide the funding needed to restore sportfishing along the Gulf Coast. For up-tp-date information on the Oil Spill, please visit Keep America Fishing.

Images from Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill - April 22, 2010
Photo Credit: NASA/ MODIS Rapid Response Team Oil Slick Spreads off Gulf Coast April 25, 2010	Photo Credit: NASA/Goddard/ MODIS Rapid Response Team NASA Sees Dull Gray Oil Slick Morph Into Letter 'J' May 10, 2010

Images from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 2005
Click on image to enlarge   Path of Hurricane Katrina August 2005	Click on image to enlarge   Path of Hurricane Rita September 2005
The FishAmerica Foundation is the conservation and research foundation of the American Sportfishing Association. FishAmerica unites the sportfishing industry with conservation groups, government agencies, fishing tournaments, corporations and charitable foundations, investing in fisheries conservation and research across the country. FishAmerica provides matching grants that empower citizen conservationists in their own communities. Since 1983, FishAmerica has provided more than $8 million for more than 800 fisheries conservation and research projects nationwide.

An aerial view of restored wetlands along Delehide Cove. Volunteers enhanced nearly 400 acres of coastal habitat along Galveston Island's West Bay. Wetlands, provide critical spawning, rearing and foraging habitat for many recreationally-important fish including striped bass, flounder, menhaden, sea trout, and croaker. Wetlands also absorb flood waters and act as a barrier to storm surges.		Oyster shell sits on a barge before placement to create two new three-acre oyster reefs in Back Bay Biloxi and St. Louis Bay. The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources and its partners including the Coastal Conservation Association created the oyster reefs which are closed to harvesting and will provide critical spawning and rearing habitat for sportfish while improving water quality.
The aerial photos of the New Orleans City Park before and after Hurricane Katrina. The New Orleans City Park Lagoons provide 11 miles and 120 acres of natural and man-made water bodies for fishing and boating in the nation’s fifth largest urban park. The project improved fish access into the lagoon, enhanced water quality for these and the freshwater species in the lagoons, and improved angler accessibility and safety. (Before: January 11, 2004. After: September 2005—water started to recede.)