Recreational boating and fishing are among this country’s most favorite pastimes. Each year, more than 50 million Americans enjoy these activities. However after years of steady growth, recreational boating and fishing participation rates have leveled off. Some states have even experienced declines in participation.

Stewardship is based on valuing natural resources, and avid boaters and anglers are often among those who most value the aquatic environment. In addition, recreational boating and fishing contribute to funding aquatic resources conservation through fishing license sales, excise taxes on fishing equipment, and motorboat fuel taxes for the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund. Anglers and boaters directly contribute hundreds of millions of dollars annually to fund aquatic conservation efforts.

If fishing and boating traditions, and their related stewardship ethic, are to grow and be passed on to future generations, these declining participation trends must be reversed.

Background

In 1998, the U.S. Congress passed the Sportfishing and Boating Safety Act. The Act required the Secretary of the Interior to implement a national outreach and communication plan to address participation issues associated with recreational fishing and boating, while ensuring public support for aquatic resource conservation. Through the efforts of the Sportfishing and Boating Partnership Council (SFBPC), the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (RBFF) was created as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization to implement the plan.

Funding for RBFF is provided through the Sport Fish Restoration and Boating Trust Fund, and is administered by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) according to a Memorandum of Understanding between the RBFF, the SFBPC, the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, and the USFWS.

Our Mission

To implement an informed, consensus-based national outreach strategy that will increase participation in recreational angling and boating and thereby increase public awareness and appreciation of the need to protect, conserve and restore this nation’s aquatic natural resources.

Our Vision

A nation where recreational boating and fishing are the preferred choice (i.e., the choice that comes to mind first) for leisure pursuits among American families, thus perpetuating our boating/fishing heritage and the resources that sustain it.