Recreational fishing has been on a decline. This can be attributed to various reasons such as increasing numbers of single parent families, increased urbanization, and less leisure time. To help reverse this trend, the Sportfishing Promotion Council (SPC) is combining the marketing expertise of industry with the fishery management expertise of agencies into state-level partnerships that are successfully introducing more people to fishing and teaching about the conservation needs of aquatic habitats. Through programs such as youth fishing derbies, toll-free telephone systems, and mass media communications, the SPC is currently providing state agencies with increased public outreach capabilities and new methods of interacting directly with constituents. With funding provided by Sportfish Restoration funds and industry contributions, the SPC program is free to state agencies and 20 state partnerships have to date been assembled.
