The CCA Story

The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) is one of the nation’s most effective organizations protecting marine resources and the rights of recreational anglers.

            Comprised of chapters in 17 coastal states spanning the Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Seaboard, and the Pacific Coast, CCA’s strength is drawn from the approximately 100,000 recreational saltwater anglers who make up its membership. From South Texas to the upper reaches of Maine and Washington, CCA’s grassroots influence is felt in state capitals, the United States Congress, and state wildlife management bodies, resulting in the conservation and restoration of our coastal marine resources.

CCA began in 1977 after drastic commercial overfishing along the Texas coast decimated redfish and speckled trout populations. Fourteen concerned recreational anglers created the Gulf Coast Conservation Association to combat commercial fishing excesses and conserve the resource.
CCA’s spirit of conservation and stewardship started with the "Save the Redfish" campaign and soon swept across the entire Gulf Coast. By 1985 Gulf-state chapters had formed from Texas to Florida, and by the early ‘90s, development of the Atlantic and New England state chapters was completed to address state and national issues as a united Coastal Conservation Association.
CCA has been active in virtually every national fisheries debate since 1984 and has participated productively in state and federal fisheries management issues for longer than two decades. It continues to operate as a three-tiered organization, affecting issues on the local, state and national levels.
In the federal court system CCA’s legal defense fund has been used to defend net bans and the implementation of bycatch reduction devices, and to support pro-fisheries legislation and battle arbitrary no-fishing zones.
CCA and its state-chapter network are engaged in hundreds of local, state and national programs and projects related to marine conservation, including initiating scientific studies, funding marine-science scholarships, building artificial reefs, creating finfish hatcheries, initiating hydrologic and contaminant studies, monitoring the quality and quantity of freshwater inflows, supporting local marine law enforcement and more.