Fish ID and Ecology: How Learning About Fish Morphology Can Make You a Better Angler

Florida is the fishing capital of the world! Our state has the more current IFGA world records than the entire country of Australia and nearly twice the amount of Japan! Annually, recreational fisheries bring the state over $13.8 billion in economic impact supporting over 120,00 jobs. With over 4 million licensed fishermen, it is vital that we all do our part to preserve our resource by being able to properly identify species and adhere to current fisheries regulations. In this presentation attendees will learn about external morphological characteristics to help identify the different species of fish as well as how some of those features can be used to predict the fish’s ecology which greatly helps with angling strategies. By increasing our fish IQ and following some best practices, we can ensure that our grandchildren can participate in one of our state’s best pastimes.