Coastal Conservation Association (CCA)

Background

The Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) is a membership organization of sport fishermen that promotes marine life conservation. It was formed as the “Gulf Coast Conservation Association” in 1977 by a group of 14 recreational fishermen who were concerned about the overfishing occurring along the Texas coast, impacting the populations of the redfish and speckled trout. Walter William Fondren III, a football player for the Texas Longhorns in the 1950s, was one of the founding members and founding chairman. ^{3 4}

Over the course of four years, the organization launched the “Save the Redfish” campaign and was able to get gill nets outlawed along the Texas coast and get the redfish and speckled trout categorized as game fish. ³

By 1985 additional chapters formed along the Gulf Coast, and in the ensuing years CCA chapters formed along the coastal United States, including the south, the mid-Atlantic area, Washington, Oregon, and California. ³ As of 2024, CCA had over 125,000 members with 224 chapters in 19 coastal states. ¹

Each state organization has an executive director, board of directors, and funding, and decides on the issues it will focus on. ⁵

Work Areas

Coastal Conservation Association sponsors research relating to marine life and environmental factors influencing its survival, educates the public on marine life conservation, encourages conservation of marine life resources, and develops conservation program recommendations for federal and state agencies, environmental organizations, and both commercial and sporting fishing associations. ⁶

The Building Conservation Trust is a related organization created to raise funds for environmental projects that support habitat restoration and creation and encourage habitat conservation. ⁷

The ReleaSense initiative is an educational platform that promotes catch-and-release best practices for anglers to increase fish-survival rates. ⁸

The Science of Conservation Scholarship Program awards scholarships to support students focusing on marine fisheries science. ⁹

The CCA publishes a quarterly magazine called TIDE which is available to CCA members. ¹⁰

Advocacy

Since 1984, Coastal Conservation Association has had registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C. and in several states. ¹¹ As of August 2024, the CCA reported spending $60,000 on lobbying that year. Total lobbying expenses in 2023 were $120,000. ¹² It maintains a legal defense fund to advocate for and fight against fisheries legislation. ¹³

In February 2024, the CCA co-signed a letter to Congress supporting the Reinvesting in America’s Shoreline Economies and Ecosystems Act, would direct funding from offshore wind production to coastal improvements that protect fish and wildlife. Other co-signers were sporting and left-of-center environmental organizations such as the National Wildlife Federation, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the Land Trust Alliance, the Conservation Fund, and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership. ¹⁴

The CCA is a partner of the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership in advancing conservation policies. Other partners include the AFL-CIO, the Everglades Foundation, the Hispanic Access Foundation, the Land Trust Alliance, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the National Wildlife Federation, the Property and Environment Research Center, the Student Conservation Association, the Nature Conservancy, the Trust for Public Land, and the Union Sportsmen’s Alliance. ¹⁵

The CCA advocates for state management of fisheries, claiming that National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) fisheries’ data management capabilities were questionable. ¹⁶

Funding

Coastal Conservation Association reported revenues of $23,732,575 and expenses of $20,677,269 on its 2022 tax return. ⁶

Donors in 2022 included several large left-of-center charitable organizations and donor-advised funds such as the National Philanthropic Trust, the Goldman Sachs Charitable Gifts Fund, Charities Aid Foundation of America, American Online Giving Foundation, Schwab Charitable Fund, and Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund. ²

Leadership

Patrick Murray is the Coastal Conservation Association’s national president. He graduated from the University of St. Thomas and took courses on nonprofit management and public policy at Harvard Kennedy School. He owned a fishing guide service on the Texas coast before joining CCA in 2000 and working in a variety of roles. Murray is on the board of several environmental groups including the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation and is a founding board member of the Building Conservation Trust. ¹⁷

The executive board had 38 members as of August 2024. ¹⁸