The mission of the Saltwater Conservation Association of Texas is to maintain and improve the health, diversity, and productivity of the coastal waters of the State of Texas to meet the expectations of the present and future generations of Texas anglers.

 SCA Texas Founding Fathers 

            In order for SCA Texas to become established across Texas and begin working to fulfill our mission, we need a dedicated group of individuals to step up and support SCA Texas on ideological principles.  The capital raised through the generous donations from this group will go towards extending our business activities; underwriting our first series of informational dinners; and begin our advertising campaign to generate additional dollars, to raise public awareness in SCA Texas, and begin our work on the commercial shrimping issue. 

What does it take to become a SCA Texas Founding Father?

             All it takes is a one time cash, merchandise, or professional time donation equivalent to $250 or more.  It’s that simple.

 How will this group be distinguished?

             To begin with, this group will be distinguished by being limited to only the first 100 persons to step forward and take a personal interest in maintaining and protecting the fisheries of our great State.  This exclusive group will also be distinguished as Life Members of SCA Texas in honor of their donations.  Each donor’s name will then be inscribed on a memorial plaque permanently maintained at SCA headquarters, thereby immortalizing their generosity for all members to recognize.  However, this plaque will not only adorn the walls of SCA Texas headquarters, it will proudly be displayed at all SCA Texas events. 

             Founding Fathers will have in their membership package a certificate issued denoting their special status within the membership of SCA Texas.  Founding Fathers will additionally have their status demonstrated on their membership cards.  Furthermore, Founding Fathers will have issued to them a commemorative, limited edition print when SCA Texas has become further established.  Additionally, Founding Fathers will receive special invitations, consideration, and recognition at all SCA Texas events. 

The Urgent Need for Immediate Action 

            During the last round of commercial shrimping license buy-backs by Texas Parks and Wildlife, they were forced to leave over 60 additional licenses on the table. These licenses were within the fair market value established by TP&W, but remained in circulation due to a lack of funds.  These 60 additional licenses could have been permanently retired if a private sector effort had existed to assist TP&W in their buy-back program, a private sector effort like the Saltwater Conservation Association of Texas. 

            The funding shortfall occurred despite the 1.4 million dollars generated by the $3 fee increase for a saltwater fishing stamp.  Furthermore, that $1.4 million is earmarked for the commercial crab and commercial finfish buy-back programs thereby diluting the efforts of TP&W in the commercial shrimping buy-backs.  SCA Texas is committed to continuing the shrimping buy-backs well after TP&W’s five year involvement has reached it’s sunset deadline.  However, we can only begin our buy-backs after we have established a strong membership base.  The recruitment of Founding Fathers is a first step.

Justification

             We have all invested untold time and money in pursuit of our finned adversaries.  We’ve purchased boats, motors, custom rods, the best reels, specialized line, hard plastics, soft plastics, spoons, jigs, live bait, scent enhancers, dedicated clothing, and more electronic equipment than was in the Apollo program, just to ensure our success on the water.  We’ve spent countless hours reading water, scanning for slicks, finding contours, understanding weather patterns, noting currents, searching for feeding birds, working weed lines, and yet there is one more act we could perform to become more accomplished as anglers. 

             We all need to step forward and make one more investment in fishing.  We can, here and now, make our single most effective investment to ensure our fishing success.  We need to invest in an organization that will work to protect our fishing today, and the fishing of tomorrow.  We need to invest in an organization that understands all of the unique issues facing our coastal waters.  We need to invest in an organization that is involved in issues both offshore and inshore.  We need to invest in an organization dedicated to Texas.  We need to invest in the Saltwater Conservation Association of Texas. 

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