On Location at ICAST - The Vanishing Everglades with Geoff Mullins and Captain Chris Wittman

Continuing with our newfound love of "from the field" podcasts, we take this one to Florida. Podcast co-host Bill Cooksey attended ICAST (a big fishing industry tradeshow) in July and had the opportunity to sit down with Geoff Mullins from the Everglades Foundation and Captain Chris Wittman from Captains for Clean water to talk about the myriad habitat problems in the Everglades and South Florida and what hunters and anglers can do to help. The region is full of iconic hunting and fishing locations such as Lake Okeechobee and Florida Bay, and waterfowl hunters come from around the country to hunt mottled ducks, black-bellied whistling ducks and fulvous ducks. When most people think about Everglades issues, they think pythons and algae closing down beaches, but there’s a whole lot more at stake.

Episode links:

https://www.evergladesfoundation.org/

https://captainsforcleanwater.org/

https://www.vanishingparadise.org/restoration-solutions/projects?state=florida

Show Notes:

1:05-Intro to ICAST.

3:22-What have we been doing lately?

5:15-Geoff explains what Everglades restoration means.

6:47-Chris explains restoration from his point of view as a sportsman.

8:50-What is Captains for Clean Water?

11:35-Geoff, where do sportsmen fit in this puzzle?

13:50-Bill offers his take on the issues.

15:55-Chris talks duck hunting and the impact of declining habitat and restoration.

18:05-Geoff, what is the most critical component at this moment?

21:35-How is the state involved financially with restoration?

23:35-Chris discusses the changes he’s witnessed to some bucket list Florida destinations.

29:35-What do the next ten years look like?

31:35-Who are the stakeholders?

38:05-Why is this a national issue?

39:55-What should Florida sportsmen be doing?

42:55-What have we missed?

47:15-Words of wisdom from Geoff, Chris and Bill