Fishing and Fish Habitat Restoration:
Provide Public Information to Restore Lost Fishing Services
Background
The goal of this action is to build on the public outreach and education work
initiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) through the
establishment of the Fish Contamination Education
Collaborative 
(FCEC) . The FCEC is a federal, state, and local partnership project that
focuses on educating the public about the human health hazards associated with
DDT and PCB contamination in fish. In particular, the FCEC provides information
to help people reduce their exposure to DDTs and PCBs from the fish they eat.
MSRP will expand this ongoing effort to increase fishing opportunities by
providing information to anglers that helps them to make decisions about which
species to keep for consumption. MSRP has provided funding to various youth
organizations to develop fishing educational programs (see below for more
information). MSRP recently developed a fishing education plan that outlines
various tools for outreach to anglers, students, and families. Three
educational products will remain as part of these that are distributed
throughout Southern California and successfully demonstrate MSRP’s message
about safe fishing practices.
These products can be downloaded from our website.
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Project Updates
MSRP Outreach and Education Mini-grants
Since 2006, MSRP has been providing funds to youth organizations to implement
outreach and education projects relating to safe fishing practices. The funding
supports the development of curricula, programs or activities to educate young
people who consume locally-caught fish (and through them, their parents) on
safe ways to enjoy or benefit from fishing along the Los Angeles and Orange
County coasts where fish consumption advisories have impacted fishing. Projects
use the comic book and/or concepts outlined in the comic book as a foundation,
and draw from educational materials available through EPA's Fish Contamination
Education Collaborative (www.pvsfish.org)
. Descriptions of the three projects selected for funding in 2009/2010 are
below. These projects have already started and will continue through 2010.
“Fun Fishing Program at SEA Lab”- Los
Angeles Conservation Corps
Los Angeles Conservation Corps’ (LACC) SEA Lab located in Redondo Beach, CA is
educating corpsmembers on the benefits of recreational fishing and the
alternatives to consuming contaminated fish species. This is the second year of
outreach funding for SEA Lab to continue their “Fun Fishing Program.” Five
hundred corpsmembers completed the program in the first year and an additional
300 members will participate this year. Participants learn fish identification,
engage in pier fishing, demonstrate proper handling and releasing of fish, and
practice proper preparation of fish for consumption. Outreach to public schools
is also included this year with a goal of reaching 600 students by the end of
the program. http://www.lacorps.org
"Your Day on the Water in Southern
California” – United Anglers of Southern California
United Anglers of Southern California (UASC) teamed up with the Cabrillo Marine
Aquarium to hold a pier fishing event for children and their families. UASC
developed an educational booklet that has information about fish, marine
mammals, and seabirds that the children might see while fishing. The booklet
also contains information about conservation issues for certain species and
consumption alerts for fish species that are contaminated with harmful
chemicals. The booklet was distributed to the children at the pier fishing
event. UASC will also incorporate the booklet into their existing outreach
program which includes boat fishing trips for classroom students and teachers.
“Fish for Health Project”- Asian Youth Center
The Asian Youth Center (AYC) located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los
Angeles County has been providing social services and health advice for the
large Asian population in this area since 1989. Their goal for this project is
to hold workshops for children in their afterschool program about safe fishing
practices and fish contamination. AYC recently translated the “What’s the
Catch” comic book and the “MSRP Fish Identification” card into Chinese. These
two products will be used for the workshops and to hand out at large outreach
events. AYC is also planning on educating fishing tackle shop owners and their
customers about fish contamination issues and safe fishing practices.
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