2022 Conservation Recap
by AFTCO 8 Jan 2023 19:04 UTC
2022 Conservation Recap © AFTCO
Every year through our 10% Pledge to Protect and Conserve, AFTCO and the Shedd Family contribute at least 10% of company profits towards fishing conservation, protecting our resources, and ensuring future generations have access to a sustainable fishery. Our largest contributions in 2022 were to the following longstanding conservation partners: Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute (HSWRI), Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), Center for Sportfishing Policy (CSP), International Game Fish Association (IGFA), FishAmerica Foundation, Captains For Clean Water, and B.A.S.S. Nation.
In 2022, we donated $426,465 in cash contributions through the 10% Pledge. Additionally, AFTCO donated approximately $400K in product and contributed employee time to support causes we believe in. Below we have highlighted three projects that were new in 2022, each receiving $25,000 from AFTCO.
IGFA Great Marlin Race
Recreational anglers, armed with cutting-edge satellite tag technology, become citizen scientists and deploy tags on the billfish they catch. These tags transmit data to researchers who learn more about billfish biology and how the fish interact with their habitat. Understanding where these animals go and how they utilize their habitat provides invaluable data to scientists and resource managers to help ensure long-term billfish conservation. The IGMR has fundamentally changed the way that scientists, anglers, and policymakers understand billfish.
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources
AFTCO contributed to the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, helping stock 300,000 largemouth bass into the Ohio River, Kentucky River, and several other rivers and reservoirs across the state of Kentucky.
North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation
We have partnered with the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC) and the North Carolina B.A.S.S. Nation to improve bass habitat. AFTCO recently sent its first of four annual $25,000 checks to the NCWRC which will be used toward developing an aquatic plant propagation greenhouse. This new facility will help produce the specific types of vegetation needed to improve bass habitat in North Carolina waters and will potentially increase the NCWRC's vegetation production by 400-500%.