Begun in Texas in 1977, the Coastal Conservation Association began its recreational angler advocacy in Florida in 1985. It helped prevent overfishing of redfish by convincing state fishery management officials to list it as a gamefish.

For over 20 years, the Treasure Coast chapter based in Indian River County has been active in producing and supporting habitat conservation and restocking redfish into the Indian River Lagoon.

Restoring native clams in the lagoon in Indian River County has been a major focus since 2018 as overharvesting and poor water quality collapsed the population.

“CCA Florida and the CCA Treasure Coast Chapter have one wish: to see the Indian River Lagoon restored back to a healthy, thriving estuary,” said Frank Gidus, habitat and environmental restoration director. “Filter-feeding clams play a large role in this restoration process by removing organic nutrients from the water, reducing turbidity and clarifying the water, which in turn allows more seagrass to grow. By increasing the clam population, we can significantly reduce harmful nutrient levels and restore the natural balance of our aquatic ecosystems.”

CCA Florida has been working on clam restoration with the University of Florida Whitney Lab, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, and Blair Wiggins Outdoors. Their primary goal is to initiate clam restoration by repatriating hardy varieties of native clam species and assessing their survivorship under various environmental conditions.

How to help

About this series

​Treasure Coast nonprofits that research, protect, restore and advocate for clean water and a healthy environment need more than holiday cheer to continue their missions. Find out what they need and how you can help them, as TCPalm.com highlights a different organization each day from Nov. 27-Dec. 1 and Dec. 4-8.