2007 Sportfishing Summit
Sessions
Summit Sessions Photo Gallery
2007 Summit Sessions Presentations
This year’s Summit sessions focused on two of the most critical issues facing the sportfishing industry: access and participation.
Wednesday, October 10
Wednesday was dedicated to ASA’s Committees’ meetings, where committee members and guests gathered to discuss a variety of topics and make recommendations for consideration by ASA’s Board of Directors. For more information, please view the October 2007 General Membership Meeting Report.
On Wednesday evening, the Welcome Reception held on the shores of Sanibel Harbour, gave attendees the opportunity to meet and network.
Thursday, October 11
The Summit opened on Thursday with remarks from Ken Haddad, executive director, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Randy Lemcke, ASA’s Board of Directors chairman, and vice president, Plano Molding Company, who welcomed attendees to Florida and the Summit.
Thursday’s sessions were dedicated to participation with the Summit Signature Morning Session focusing on the latest information impacting the sportfishing industry, including the results of the USFWS’s 2006 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting and Wildlife-Associated Recreation. ASA President and CEO Mike Nussman presented a State of the Industry address, followed by Glenn Hughes, publisher, Bonnier Corporation, and chairman of ASA’s Data and Statistics Committee. Hughes discussed the National Survey in relation to our industry’s past, present and future. William Strauss, partner, LifeCourse Associates, then discussed how generational changes may affect the sportfishing industry in the coming years.
During lunch, Frank Peterson, president and CEO, the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation, updated attendees on the foundation’s strategic focus for 2008 and beyond. During the afternoon session, Ed Mahoney, Ph.D., professor and extension specialist, Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation and Resource Studies, and co-director, Recreation Marine Research Center, Michigan State University, discussed new research methods he and his colleagues are developing to analyze the characteristics, behaviors, perceptions and economic significance of anglers and boaters.
Attendees were treated to a guided tour of the J.N. “Ding” Darling Wildlife Refuge on Thursday afternoon.
During Thursday evening’s Member Reception & Dinner, sponsored by Bass Pro Shops, Darrell Lowrance, who recently retired as long-time president of Lowrance Electronics, Inc., was given the Norville Prosser Lifetime Achievement Award, ASA’s highest honor, for his life-long dedication to the sportfishing industry.
Friday, October 12
Friday featured a keynote address by Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. In his remarks, Kempthorne recognized ASA’s proactive role in working with the federal government on polices that effect ASA’s members, including access and habitat conservation. Kempthorne also spoke to ASA’s members and guests about the critical issue of connecting children with nature saying, “We need to get our children out of cyberspace and into open space.”
Friday’s sessions focused on the critical issue of access and the push toward the closure of large portions of coastal waters to sportfishing as a conservation means. A panel discussion featuring David Kennedy, director, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, NOAA; Mark Powell, vice president, Fish Conservation, The Ocean Conservancy; and Ray Hilborn, Ph.D., Richard C. and Lois M. Worthington Professor of Fisheries Management, School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences, University of Washington, gave attendees the opportunity to hear the about the access issue from the federal, environmental and conservation points of view.
This was followed by an update from ASA staff on the status of ASA’s activities in California and elsewhere regarding access. ASA Vice President Gordon Robertson along with Ocean Resource Policy Director Patty Doerr and Dan Kramer, KPA Strategies, provided the updates.
The General Membership Meeting rounded out the Summit’s program on Friday afternoon.
