Welcome to our inaugural issue of Megalops, the biannual Journal of the International Tarpon Conservation Association. Our goal is to bring you information about our supported research efforts, tarpon angling tips and techniques, along with other tarpon related news and information. We promise to bring all of this to you each quarter, free of charge. If you enjoy our publication, we simply ask that you visit our website (www.itarpon.org) and become a member.
If you are not familiar with our organization, I would like to take a moment and introduce you to our objectives. The International Tarpon Conservation Association, Inc. ("ITCA") was formed as a non-profit organization by avid tarpon anglers, who want to create an organization dedicated to promoting and funding meaningful tarpon research. Unlike other similar organizations, ITCA is solely dedicated to increasing our knowledge about tarpon, and only tarpon. Our resources will go to promoting scientific endeavors aimed at learning more about tarpon, their life cycle and the environmental factors that impact their migration, habitat and populations. Once the data has been gathered and processed, ITCA will serve as an outlet for educating anglers and other concerned marine biologists to better promote and protect tarpon.
Also, unlike other, similar organizations, ITCA WILL NOT propose legislation or actively lobby any government or legislative body to impose additional regulations on charter and recreational anglers. ITCA will instead promote sportsmanship and responsible stewardship among tarpon anglers as a meaningful avenue to protect the resource in conformity with the results of objective and peer reviewed marine biology.
Our goal at ITCA is to be different. We want our members to be confident that our goal and objective is tarpon and only tarpon. We want to be more accessible and responsive to the average angler and work to protect and preserve tarpon angling for generations to come.
A few WORDS from our President
A. Scott Alford
President, ITCA
In each issue, I will use this column
to keep you updated on our efforts.
Photo Courtesy of Brent Huggins