CCA STAR TOURNAMENT COMING SOON WITH HUGE PRIZES

Elemental Methods and iAngler Tournament Systems are celebrating their seventh year as the Technology Partners powering the CCA Florida STAR Tournament.

April 21, 2021 Fishing Tackle Retailer “FishingWire” - While individual anglers participating in this year’s CCA Florida S.T.A.R. tournament might dream of winning their share of the over $500,000 in prizes, including a variety of brand new boats, it is the catch data collected through the tournament that will ultimately benefit Florida anglers the most.

The S.T.A.R tournament, now in its seventh year, is an online catch and release competition that is open to anglers across the state of Florida starting May 29. Top prizes, including Yamaha-powered Contender 22 Sport, Pathfinder 2200 TRS and Spyder 19FX Vapor boats, will be awarded to registered anglers who catch one of the tagged redfish that will be released around the state.

“Partnerships with organizations both inside the fishing industry, like Power Pole, and outside the industry are critical to the conservation mission not only from a financial aspect but also from an awareness perspective,” CCA Florida director Leiza Fitzgerald said. “CCA has leveraged the monies and grants that we have garnered into 5.4 million in habitat and water quality projects throughout the state of Florida in the last 10 years.

“We could not have completed these projects with out the financial support of our partners and the backs and hands of our member volunteers who have put in the man and women hours to get the work done.”

Power-Pole, creators of the original Shallow Water Anchor, is proud to be the title sponsor of the Conservation Division for the last three years of this event. Entries in this division is open to anglers of all ages and skill levels. Each catch entry provides species, length, where the fish was hooked, whether it was harvested or released, and if it was released, what condition was the fish when it was released.

“The Power Pole Conservation Division has more entries in this division than any other because every fish caught can be entered. This makes each of the participants citizen biologists” Fitzgerald said. “This catch data is utilized by other conservation organizations and universities for research on stock assessments, habitat mapping and the health and condition of certain species.  The STAR Power Pole Conservation division is one of the largest data sources for use by these organizations and provides invaluable catch data which is needed to offer reliable conclusions that can used to assist in fisheries management.”

“Power-Pole is a natural fit to sponsor the Conservation Division because it is the category that is accessible to all anglers no matter their age or skill level,” Power-Pole national sales manager Dan Benson said. “The conservation of the environment and promoting the sport of fishing are two of the pillars that Power-Pole as a company was founded on.”

The Power-Pole Conservation Division, is one of 17 divisions specifically targeting 12 different species. The top prizes will be awarded to anglers that catch a fish that has been tagged and released by CCA around the state of Florida, including the West Marine Redfish and Tigress Mahi Division. Other divisions include ladies, kayak, guides and many more. Since most division winners are determined by a random drawing, it is not about catching the biggest fish but submitting qualifying entries for an opportunity to be drawn as a winner. There is also a Youth Scholarship Division presented by Academy Sports + Outdoors that will award $100,000 in scholarships to 12 young anglers.

This event is open to all anglers who become CCA members along with a $40 registration fee. All proceeds help fund CCA’s conservation efforts throughout the year. To register for STAR 2021 or receive additional information on divisions, prizes and more, visit ccaflstar.com.

Power-Pole supports CCA Florida, along with its annual banquet, through the company’s CASTnet program which helps fund non-profits and charities that have water conservation as their primary goal. This includes funding organizations that focus on water quality issues, research and habitat restoration, to providing those organizations with the tools they need to make a positive change.

CCA Florida's Statewide Beach Cleanup Removes Over 400 Buckets of Trash from Florida Waters

Posted by Lacey Hagler on Thursday, December 10th, 2020 at 11:39am.

The Coastal Conservation Association of Florida had an awesome “turnout” for their 2nd Annual Statewide Beach Cleanup this year by using an online app and a tournament layout.

The cleanup is run similar to a fishing tournament, but instead of submitting fish, participants submit their trash collections!

The event was managed through the iAngler Tournament App and website, and for each 5 gallon bucket of trash uploaded, participants received one entry for raffle prizes including Costa Sunglasses, Academy Sports + Outdoors Gift Cards and American Express Gift Cards provided by CCA Florida and iAngler. 

The event involved 98 total participants for one week straight, and was available in the entire state of Florida. Individuals could choose which body of water, beach, canal, etc. they would like to clean up. Together, over 400 buckets of trash was picked up from Florida state waters.

NOAA Fisheries Appoints 11 Members to New Recreational Electronic Reporting Task Force

Members will serve on a task force under the agency’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee.

Today, NOAA Fisheries announced the appointment of 11 members to the new Recreational Electronic Reporting Task Force. The task force was established under the auspices of the agency’s Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee, also known as MAFAC. Task Force members will draw on their expertise to evaluate and make recommendations on resource policies.

“Our new task force members have a wealth of expertise balanced among a variety of disciplines related to the generation, delivery, and use of electronic data, and public attitudes about participating in electronic reporting programs. Their guidance will assist efforts to improve recreational fishing data to maximize sustainable fishing opportunities,” said Dr. Cisco Werner, Chief Science Advisor for NOAA Fisheries. “Some new members are scientists or researchers in these fields, while others have applied experience. We are excited to welcome all of them to the MAFAC team.

The members represent a wide spectrum of skills, including:

• Sampling statistics

• Survey methodologies

• Citizen science

• Fishery stock assessment science

• Electronic monitoring or reporting

• Fisheries management

• Database development and management

• Mobile technology applications (apps)

• Marine recreational fishing

Ultimately, their work will provide expert advice to MAFAC and NOAA Fisheries leadership. “We are committed to assessing the current and possible future use of electronic reporting options for private anglers. The work of the task force will contribute to the development of an agency roadmap to advance and guide implementation of electronic data collection in private recreational fisheries,” said Dr. Werner.

The initial actions for consideration by the Task Force include:

1. Identify and prioritize known data gaps relative to NOAA Fisheries’ role in supporting management of marine recreational fisheries that could be addressed through mandatory or voluntary private recreational angler electronic reporting programs.

2. Identify realistic and achievable goals for voluntary (also known as opt-in) and mandatory electronic reporting for private recreational anglers, as well as associated challenges and solutions, where identifiable.

3. Provide recommendations on how the aforementioned goals could be best supported or achieved by NOAA Fisheries.

The 11 new task force members are:

Lucas Bissett, Slidell, Louisiana
USCG licensed Captain and owner of a fly-fishing guide service, Lowtide Charters

Michael Christopher, Irving, Texas
Managing Director of Elemental Methods, LLC

Chip Collier, Charleston, South Carolina
Deputy Director for Science, South Atlantic Fishery Management Council

John T. Froeschke, Tampa, Florida
Deputy Executive Director and Fishery Biologist-Statistician, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council

Tyler Garber, Olympia, Washington
Mark Selective Fisheries Biologist, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

Kelly Garvy, Durham, North Carolina
Founder, Upstate

Francine Karp, Greenwich, Rhode Island
Data Collection, Harbor Light Software

Sean Simmons, British Columbia, Canada
President, Angler’s Atlas

Gregory Stunz, Corpus Christi, Texas
Executive Director of the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation, Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University

Paul Venturelli, Muncie, Indiana
Assistant Professor of fisheries science and management, Ball State University; specializes in mobile technology applications

Amy Whitaker Dukes, Charleston, South Carolina
Supervisor of data collection and management, South Carolina Department of Natural Resources

Last updated by Office of Policy on April 23, 2020

MyFishCount Recreational Reporting Project Counts More than Just South Atlantic Update Summer 2018 Newsletter

South Atlantic Fishery Management Council - Summer 2018 Newsletter

Use of new mobile app helps provide the big picture during red snapper opening - and into the future

Fishermen love to share stories about their fishing trips. Whether its on the VHF, fishing forums, Instagram, Facebook, or uncle Harry’s birthday party. We often receive calls here at the Council office from fishermen talking about the impacts of weather, regulations, gear requirements, number of released fish (and the sharks that feed on them), etc.

Now there is an opportunity to share that information in real time to help fishery managers better understand what is happening on the water while giving private recreational anglers a personal log-book to help improve their next fishing trip.

““We believe all anglers have a responsibility to live up to Florida’s “Fishing Capital of the World” designation, and there is no better way than through the MyFishCount app.””

— Gary Jennings, American Sportfishing Association

The MyFishCount electronic reporting pilot project allows anglers to report details of their trips - numbers of fish kept, released, condition of fish released, gear used, depths fished, area fished, weather, and much more. Information is reported through the MyFishCount website or mobile app. All data are confidential and used only in cummulative format. As anglers log into their accounts and report, they also create trip-level logbooks that can be referenced later to help improve their fishing trips.

Reports from Red Snapper Season

With over 700 users of the mobile app to date, MyFishCount participants received a summary report from the red snapper season three days after the recreational season ended. The report included catch highlights, weather impacts on fishing trips, catch and release information, length distributions for fish captured this year compared to the last stock assessment, and more. Anglers
are encouraged to participate in the pilot project and help paint the big picture to improve fisheries management.

Reports from MyFishCount users were used to compile data following the red snapper mini-season. As reports continue throughout the year, such information will be helpful to managers.

Florida anglers can improve harvest data from their phones: Guestview

Kellie Ralston

Kellie Ralston, Guest Columnist, Pensacola News Journal

Florida anglers can improve harvest data from their phones

Anglers along Florida’s Gulf coast have been heading offshore over the past week to enjoy the start of Florida’s 40-day red snapper season, serving as a reminder of how important recreational fishing is to the state’s economy and heritage. While recreational fishermen as a group often have a wide range of opinions — such as what bait is best to use, what areas produce the best bites, or how big that fish really was — one area they’ve agreed upon is that the data federal fisheries managers have been using to regulate fishing is pretty lousy.

Fortunately, innovative new data collection approaches are being implemented this year that will allow anglers the opportunity to report their catch and help improve the data managers need to sustainably manage these fisheries. In other words, for anglers who have rightfully complained in the past about poor fisheries data, it’s put up or shut up time.

As the season begins, Florida’s more than three million licensed anglers have the opportunity to play a critical role in improving recreational harvest data by registering for the Gulf Reef Fish Survey, which is required for those targeting reef fish species, and by voluntarily recording their red snapper catches and trips on the iAngler Gulf Red Snapper smartphone app.

Data collected through the iAngler Gulf Red Snapper app, developed in partnership by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Snook and Gamefish Foundation (SGF), will help fish and wildlife officials make more informed decisions as they manage this Florida fishery. Anglers fishing in Gulf waters can use the free app to track trips, log their catches, and the condition of the fish when and if it was released. Florida anglers can also monitor the locations they made their catches, the time of day and the type of fish they caught, along with photos.

The app not only provides anglers with fishing regulations across the country, a 48-hour weather forecast, and a 4-day tide report right at their fingertips, it’s also a helpful tool for the state to manage fishing data, as well as providing a platform for anglers to revisit their past trips and discover patterns from good and not so good fishing days.

For anglers on Florida’s east coast, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council (SAFMC) also partnered with the SGF to create MyFishCount.

MyFishCount started in 2017 as a free web-based tool for anglers to report their trips and catches. After gathering requests from anglers across the South Atlantic region, SAFMC unveiled the new free mobile smartphone app this month to improve science-based data used to manage South Atlantic fisheries.

Similar to the iAngler Gulf Red Snapper app, MyFishCount allows anglers fishing in the South Atlantic to log their catches along with other details about their fishing trip. Unlike the iAngler Gulf Red Snapper app however, MyFishCount can be used beyond the red snapper season to track catches of all species and trips throughout the entire year.

Improving the data used to make fisheries management decisions is an important goal of proposed federal legislation like the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act, also known as the Modern Fish Act (S. 1520 /H.R. 2023). The Modern Fish Act will improve the sustainable management of our nation’s fisheries and update federal regulations to better address recreational activities, which are very different from commercial fisheries.

Florida anglers support more than 128,000 jobs, provide $9.6 billion in economic activity and contribute more than $53.3 million for fisheries conservation. In fact, Keep Florida Fishing’s mission is to ensure anglers have clean waters, abundant fisheries and access to both. We believe all anglers have a responsibility to live up to Florida’s ‘Fishing Capital of the World’ designation and there is no better opportunity than through apps like iAngler and MyFishCount to directly participate in improving data for state and federal changes.

For anglers in the Gulf, download the iAngler Gulf Red Snapper app here. For those fishing in the South Atlantic, download the MyFishCount app here.

Together we can Keep Florida Fishing for generations to come.

Kellie Ralston is the Florida Fisheries policy director with the American Sportfishing Association.

As the technology partner for the Snook & Gamefish Foundation, Elemental Methods developed and hosts the “MyFishCount”, “iAngler Gulf Red Snapper”, and “iAngler Gulf Red Snapper - CHARTER” mobile applications, web portal, and databases.

Elemental Methods Featured On "DFW Spotlight on Business with Heidi Hardy" Podcast

In 2018 do you plan to grow your business? Will you be leveraging your "Network"? Your professional network aka Human Capital can help you build your business...reaching your goals and going beyond.

This episode with Michael Christopher, owner of Elemental Methods, LLC/Managing Partner tells us how he went from an IT Services company to a growing App Development company with a vertical market that is expanding. #businessgrowth #appdeveloper #strategicpartner #networking #irvingchamberofcommerce

Elemental Methods Announces Strategic Partnership with BP Logix, award winning BPM solution of choice

The digital transformation underway in virtually every sector is driven by a variety of critical changes in the global business environment. Sure, organizations have always been on the lookout for ways to be more efficient and responsive. But the expectations of today’s customers have risen so far, and so fast, that many a pedigreed and stalwart firm has been left in the dust by upstarts: more agile digital ventures, unburdened by the legacy technology and cultural baggage of their predecessors.

How can you beat these upstarts at their own game?

We have partnered with BP Logix to introduce our clients to Process Director, a critical tool for your company’s digital future. Process Director is a high-productivity, no-code application development platform that enables you to rapidly create and enhance applications in the same way that you already think about your business practices: in terms of activities, people, constraints, and dependencies. Process Director frees you from risky development efforts, massive software investments, and reams of spaghetti code—but its focus is on people and their day-to-day work, not on software. This new, yet familiar, approach enables you to create dynamic digital journeys for your customers, employees and partners without the constraints of traditional application development and procurement. 

Request a demo at mchristopher@elementalmethods.com

iAngler Tournament System Featured in "Hobie Outdoors Adventures" - Episode 3, "Making Champions - Hobie Bass Open at Kentucky Lake"

iAngler Tournament Systems, sister company of Elemental Methods, is featured in a new episode of "Hobie Outdoor Adventures".  The cloud-based company manages "Catch/Photo/Release" fishing tournaments globally.  The data collected in these tournaments is being provided to researchers and fisheries managers throughout the United States.

Episode 3, "Making Champions - Hobie Bass Open at Kentucky Lake" is about the 2016 Hobie Bass Open and the iAngler Tournament System is featured throughout the video. We're proud to be working again this summer with the Hobie team at the 2017 Hobie Bass Open.

Elemental Methods Featured In The U.S. Chamber of Commerce "Small Business Master Class"

Irving, TX - The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, in collaboration with MetLife, welcomed over 200 small business leaders from across the state to the inaugural "Small Business Master Class: Dallas".   Business owners and entrepreneurs engaged with top experts to gain tools, strategies, and best practices to help companies compete successfully in today's rapidly changing economy, as well as hear inspiring stories of success and perseverance. Michael Christopher, Managing Director of Elemental Methods, was one of several local business leaders that shared their stories on how they achieved small business success.

“For Irving, small businesses are very important. They are spearheading and running our global economy,” said Beth Bowman, President and CEO of the Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce.

The program provided tips, tools and resources on how to make small businesses successful.  Dallas Cowboys legend Drew Pearson was among the lineup of speakers.

Watch a video of the "Small Business Master Class: Dallas" at: http://ictn.tv/news/06192017-522

Elemental Methods Serves on Blue Ribbon Panel on the Modernization of Fisheries Information Systems

United States fisheries are now among the most sustainable in the world. Yet as commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and seafood businesses work to reap the benefits, outdated information systems and practices are presenting an enduring barrier.

Amidst growing interest in addressing this problem by modernizing our nation's fishery information infrastructure, a coalition of experts came together to make recommendations for change. Michael Christopher of Elemental Methods was a member of the coalition charged with drafting these recommendations to Congress and the Trump Administration. Today our "Fishing Data Innovation Taskforce" is pleased to release "Improving Net Gains", a call to advance data-driven innovation for America's fishing future.

This report reviews progress to date, assesses the experiences of fisheries stakeholders, considers best practices from elsewhere, and makes recommendations for how the National Marine Fisheries Service can work with partners to move us forward. 

You can view and download the report at:  https://fishingnetgains.com