CCA Mourns Passing of Walter Fondren

The conservation community lost one of its true visionaries with the passing of Coastal Conservation Association founder Walter W. Fondren III last week in Houston. A passionate conservationist, avid hunter and skilled fisherman, Fondren was a driving force in the grassroots movement to save red drum and speckled trout populations along the Texas coast in the late 1970s, and was one of the first to fully grasp the potential of anglers as stewards of marine resources with the creation of the Gulf Coast Conservation Association (now CCA).

See full release

Walter Fondren, pictured here standing at center, at the signing of the executive order making striped bass and red drum gamefish in federal waters in 2007.
 

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 three decades. CCA continues to operate as a three-tiered organization, affecting issues on the local, state and national levels.

CCA’s unmatched breadth and depth of volunteer involvement has made it the largest marine conservation group of its kind. Its grassroots network and unique combination of membership, fundraising and advocacy have enacted positive change on all levels of coastal marine conservation and management. When called into action, the impact of CCA’s grassroots machine is unparalleled.

Through broad-based recreational angler support, a strong legal and legislative presence, more than 30 years of experience and an unwavering vision for the future of U.S. and global marine resources, CCA will continue to battle for the health and longevity of our coastal fisheries and for recreational anglers’ interests in them.