Contractors have completed subsurface plumbing and infrastructure for the facility, which will include three-quarters of a million gallons of fresh seawater pumped every day from the ocean across Highway A1A.

Artist rendering of the planned Gamefish Lagoon.

Sportfish to be invited in for permanent residence will run the gamut from snook, seatrout and redfish to tarpon, cobia and redfish. Some 7,000 pounds of fish find homes there.

A boardwalk, Fishing Center building, turtle tank and enlarged science center will be developed after the Gamefish Lagoon is in operation this summer at Florida Oceanographic’s Coastal Science Center.

Heavy equipment builds the foundation for the lagoon.

Besides providing gamefish for the public to watch, the Fishing Center will be home for clinics and educational exhibits. Marine research will be an important adjunct to activities there.

The Fishing Center and Gamefish Lagoon are envisioned to serve as a prototype for similar facilities in other parts of Florida and around the coastal U.S.

Families will enjoy a personal update of developments at an Anglers’ Meeting the evening of Feb. 3, the day before the competition, and at the Awards Banquet and party Feb. 4. Details for signing up are available by calling FOS at 772 225-0505.

The concept of the Fishing Center was announced in the September 2000 issue of Florida Sportsman. Read it at: www.floridasportsman.com/regions/se/000968_confron/.

FS