Florida Freshwater Fisheries Offices--Lakeland, SouthWest Regional HQ

SOUTHWEST REGIONAL FISHERIES OFFICE, LAKELAND

SouthWest Region Headquarters
3900 Drane Field Road
Lakeland, FL 33811-1207

Phone: 863/648-3200
Fax: 863/701-1248
Manager: Tom Champeau
Email: tom.champeau@MyFWC.com

The Regional Office is responsible for general fisheries management in their designated counties (See map for counties, clicking on a region will display the list of Fish Management Areas). Personnel have a general knowledge of all fisheries in the region with more specific management responsibilities for Fish Management Areas in their region.

In addition, the Southwest Florida Urban Pond Program, the Fisheries Volunteer Coordinator, an Aquatic Plant Coordinator and Aquatic Education Project leader are housed here. The Aquatic Habitat Enhancement leader works out of his home but can be accessed through this site.

OVERVIEW
Promoting family fishing is a goal of the FWC The Lakeland regional fisheries office is responsible for managing all of the fisheries in the SouthWest Region of the state that are not specifically covered by a management team. Regional offices also have a primary role in serving as focal points for contact with the public, and as such provide advice on pond management, fish kills, fishing opportunities and so forth.

The Lakeland regional fisheries office is responsible for numerous fish management areas and coordinates with the Tampa Urban Pond Program. They do most of the Commission's coordination work with the Southwest Florida Water Management District, as it pertains to fisheries.

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA URBAN POND PROGRAM
The Southwest Florida Urban Pond Program intensively manages a series of ponds in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area using modern techniques. These include habitat management actions such as providing aeration, vegetation planting and control, fish stocking, and fish feeding. Special regulations apply on these ponds. The ponds are managed cooperatively with the city or county and not only offer local anglers, who don't have a boat or the opportunity to travel to larger more natural areas, a nearby place to fish but also provide fishing and aquatic education programs for local youths.

For more up-to-date details, see their newsletters (these are PDF files requiring Adobe Acrobat Reader, see instructions if needed). May 2003; August 2004
Download "Tampa Urban Fishing Pond Brochure" This file is 462 kilobytes long.
Download "Tampa Urban Fishing Pond Map" This file is 329 kilobytes long.

FRESHWATER FISHERIES VOLUNTEERS
The Division of Freshwater Fisheries' Volunteer Program affords individuals and groups, with a love for the outdoors and a bit of extra time, an opportunity to help Commission personnel with a variety of interesting aquatic projects.

Open to all citizens and visitors to Florida, the program welcomes participation from people in all walks of life, after they've satisfactorily passed a background investigation.

Groups, clubs or organizations may also volunteer services for specific projects and are exempt from the application process. Those willing to contribute time and talents directed at complementing Florida's aquatic resources and encouraging angler participation will not be bored.

For example, volunteers might be called upon to teach youngsters, seniors, women and the general populace basic and advanced fishing skills, help with lab and hatchery operations, undertake photography assignments and man virtual fishing simulators.

Or, they may offer support with such hands-on habitat management procedure as planting desirable aquatic vegetation or removing nuisance plants as part of the Commission's ambitious and on-going statewide lake enhancement goals.

Those with construction experience can offer assistance in building or repairing piers, ramps, fish attractors, bank access areas, picnic facilities and other fishing amenities.

In addition to working with biologists in fish surveys, volunteers also might want to distribute information and share their expertise at fishing and boating shows, kid's fishing derbies, fairs and other occasions where the Commission meets with and informs the public about local angling opportunities.

Currently, there are 90 people who have been accepted in the program and, since early 1998, these men and women have contributed more than 2,000 hours to various Commission undertakings. The program is no longer centrally housed. So if you'd like to volunteer please contact the office manager at the Florida Freshwater Fisheries' office closest to you (office map).

FISHERIES & AQUATIC PLANT COORDINATION
Triploid Grass Carp control aquatic plants The Aquatic Plant Coordination team provide permits for private use of triploid grass carp in a 23 county area. They also ensure integration of herbicides, biological and mechanical control methods on water bodies with public access in the South and Everglades regions to ensure fisheries habitat is accounted for and are responsible for the use of triploid grass carp in public waters.

Project personnel also identify areas where aquatic plants are lacking and where a management plan is needed to reestablish vegetation as part of the critical fisheries habitat.

FISHERIES & AQUATIC EDUCATION
Informational displays are popular at fishing and boating shows. The Aquatic Education Coordinator is heavily involved in coordinating the activities of the educational facilities director, who helps supervise activities at Joe Budd, Tenoroc and in the Miami-Dade area, as well as developing materials to be used at fishing and boating shows statewide and helping provide information for the fishing forecasts/sites aspect of this web page.

AQUATIC HABITAT ENHANCEMENT
Passage of the "Florida Forever" act by the 1999 legislature has for the first time provided a reasonable amount of funding to address the restoration of aquatic habitat. Habitat that has been severely damaged due to the drainage and stabilization of water levels, to various types of pollution, and in some locations to under control of non-native plants or over control of native vegetation.

Each of the next 9 years the FWC will receive $5.5 million to enhance the aquatic habitat of a list of 31 lakes (see Update Article). These efforts will be coordinated with the Division of Wildlife to ensure that plans and activities benefit both fish and wildlife.

The Lake Restoration Work Plan and Report for FY 2002-2003 is online as a pdf file (click here for instructions).
The Entire Lake Restoration Activity Report for FY 1970-2001 is online as a pdf file Note it is 1.3 megs; click here for instructions).

The lake restoration work plan for FY 2001-2002 is online, click here to see it.

The project leader is Lothian Ager and his assistant is Mikel Hulon.

Take Me Fishing.org is a great general information site for recreational anglers and boaters.

Florida Fishing Capital of the World--Great Resources, Responsible Management