How did Sport Fish Restoration get started?
The Sport Fish Restoration Program was created in 1950, when Congress enacted the Sport Fish Restoration Act. U.S. Representative John Dingell, Sr., of Michigan and Senator Edwin Johnson of Colorado, sponsored the act. The law, known as the "Dingell–Johnson Act," applied a 10-percent manufacturer's excise tax on fishing rods, creels, lures, and flies. Tax revenues are transferred to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which in turn distributes them to the states for recreational sport fishing projects.

In 1984, Senator Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming and Representative John Breaux of Louisiana sponsored the Wallop–Breaux Amendment to the SFR Act, extending the tax to tackle boxes, sonar fish finders, motorboat fuels, electric motors, and other equipment not included in earlier laws. The Wallop–Breaux Amendment requires spending 15 percent of all restoration money on boating access to public waters and requires Florida and other coastal states to fund marine recreational fisheries projects proportionate to the ratio of freshwater to saltwater anglers.

How do I contribute?
The Florida angler has two ways to contribute to the protection of Florida's marine resources: directly, through the purchase of saltwater fishing licenses, and indirectly, by purchasing fishing supplies and equipment covered in the Sport Fish Restoration program. Thanks to you and your tax dollars, recreational sport fishing will endure.

How much money does Florida receive from the Sport Fish Restoration Act annually?
The amendment enlarged the fund from $40 million annually in 1950 to $351.8 million in fiscal year 1993. Of this, Florida received an annual allotment of $4,838,805, divided equally according to the nearly equal proportion of saltwater anglers to freshwater anglers.

What is Sport Fish Restoration?
Sport Fish Restoration is a federal program that is funded through an excise tax on fishing goods such as rods, lures, and tackle boxes. The tax revenues collected are distributed to each of the states and used on restoration projects such as fish stocking and improvements on boating access.

Which marine projects in the state of Florida are funded by Sport Fish Restoration?
Numerous Florida projects have been funded by your contribution:

• Improvement of boating facilities, parking, fishing cleaning stations, and facilities at marine parks.
  
  
• Development and maintenance of artificial reefs along Florida's coastline.

• Long-term monitoring of juvenile finfish to assess sport fish stocks, determine trends in relative abundance, and provide early warning signs of problems or impacts of recent management decisions.

• Research on the abundance, distribution, and life history of tarpon and bonefish in Florida.

• Investigation and control of disease parasites affecting hatchery-raised fish such as red drum.

• Development of regional guides for Florida's boaters and fishermen.
  View Boater's Guides

Where can I find more information about Sport Fish Restoration?
Visit the Sport Fish Restoration Section for more information.