Sport Fish Restoration Act 75th Anniversary: Part 1

Fishy Fridays

Weekly spotlight on fisheries journal articles

 

Jeff Kopaska
AFS Executive Director
[email protected]

2025 marks the 75th Anniversary of the passage of the Dingell-Johnson Sport Fish Restoration Act (SFR). This legislation was truly transformative for the fisheries profession. Additionally, the Wallop-Breaux Amendment in 1984 greatly expanded the program, and “fueled” (IYKYK) ability of state agencies, USFWS, and RBFF to do much of the great fisheries work that is being accomplished today. AFS was greatly involved in the initial passage of SFR in 1950, and even more involved in 1984.

Upon the 50th Anniversary of this legislation in 2000, AFS published an 84 page supplement to Fisheries that detailed numerous accomplishments of SFR. Over the next few weeks, I will share with you some sections of that publication. Today, I start with section 3, which details the making of the legislation. I think understanding this history is important, as many fisheries jobs directly depend on SFR. As you will read, SFR undergoes congressional reauthorization every 5-6 years, and is due to expire in 2026. Efforts are underway to push that reauthorization process, and as we have been since these efforts began in the 1930s, AFS will be a part of that endeavor.

AFS and USFWS will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of SFR with a plenary at the 155th Annual Meeting of the American Fisheries Society in San Antonio in August. There will also be a symposium on the 75th Anniversary of SFR, and look for a column from me in an upcoming issue of Fisheries about the AFS history regarding SFR.