Division of Freshwater Fisheries Headquarters 620 South Meridian Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-1600 Phone: 850/488-0331 Fax: 850/413-0381 Manager: Mr. Darrell Scovell, Director Email c/o: FisheriesWebmaster@MyFWC.com

The Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management's headquarters office consists of the director and his staff. The Division has two sections--Fisheries Management (chiefly regional fisheries and community based fishing) and hatcheries, plus a special projects team.

OVERVIEW
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has specific constitutional responsibilities including management of freshwater aquatic life, marine life and wild animal life. The purpose and function of the Division of Freshwater Fisheries Management (DFFM) is to provide expertise on freshwater fish populations, angler use, or other aspects of freshwater fisheries needed for management decisions by the FWC, and to assess impacts of decisions made by others to ensure quality fisheries and fishing in selected Florida lakes, fish management areas, rivers and streams.  (See also Mission.)

DFFM Biologists are the first line of support for inquiries by the public for information on freshwater fisheries management issues, fishing opportunities, fish pond management, fish kills or other general fisheries related issues. The DFFM also delivers aquatic education and outreach to future anglers to expose them to angler ethics, fisheries management, aquatic ecology, tackle crafting, angling skills, fish identification, and other aspects aimed at promoting responsible life-time participation in sport fishing. Additionally, freshwater fish production facilities are included in this Division to provide a dependable supply of the specific size, quantity, and quality of freshwater fish for specific freshwater fisheries management objectives.

The Division of Freshwater Fisheries, as of 1 July 2004, has 69.5 FTE, two Sections (Regional Freshwater Fisheries Management and Hatchery Operations and Stocking) plus a special projects group and has an operating budget of approximately $4.2 million. These individuals and funds are used to protect and enhance 3 million acres of lakes, ponds and reservoirs, and 12,000 miles of rivers, streams and canals. The recreational fishery resources alone in these waters provide entertainment for 1.14 million anglers, who have an economic impact of $1.4 billion. Those expenditures provide $37.4 million dollars in taxes and create 18,873 jobs in Florida. In addition, freshwater commercial fishing generates $13 million per year.

Darrell Scovell is the Division Director and Federal Aid in Sport Fish Restoration (a.k.a., Wallop-Breaux or Dingell-Johnson) coordinator. Federal Aid provides the second most important source of funding (behind fishing license revenue), for conservation of Florida's freshwater aquatic life. Very strict rules govern how each state receives its share of these funds and how they can be spent. The coordinator is responsible for ensuring Florida gets its fair share and expends the money wisely. The link above gives a more detailed overview of the Sport Fish Restoration Program.

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