On December 2, 2011, the New York Sportfishing Federation presented a check for $2,500 to the Bob Sweeney Sportfishing Education and Aquaculture Center. Opened on Long Island in 2002 at Cedar Beach Marina just off the Ocean Parkway in Babylon, the facility was constructed through the efforts of Assemblyman Bob Sweeney of Lindenhurst and the New York Fishing Tackle Trade Association (NYFTTA). The mission of the Sweeney Center is to provide an arena to promote saltwater recreational fishing and teach angling ethics.
New York Sportfishing Federation (Federation) president Jim Hutchinson, presented the check to Sportfishing Alliance executive director Chuck Hollins (also vice president of the Federation) and Sportfishing Education Center outreach director Tracy Marcus at the annual Operation Holiday Spirit party. The annual celebration also functioned as a toy drive for the Long Island Beach Buggy Association (LIBBA) to which the Federation also donated $300 towards LIBBA’s efforts.
The Center’s educational tools include a fishing museum, library, rod & reel loaner program, and an aquaculture demonstration laboratory. Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program helped to create a marine education curriculum for school groups that visit the Center which covers many of the standards established by the New York State Department of Education. The Sportfishing Education Center educates residents in coastal communities, especially children, about the marine resources and ecosystems in local waters.
“Sportfishing helps foster a much a deeper understanding about the marine and the coastal district as a whole, and the non-profit Sportfishing Education Center’s ongoing efforts to introduce more of our local youth to the wonders of recreational fishing is an investment in future sustainability,” said Hutchinson who adds that the Sweeney Center is also the location of many Long Island club meetings and gatherings, including the monthly Federation meetings on the second Tuesday of each month.
Calling the Sweeney Center a “primary hub of the sportfishing community” in New York, Hutchinson said “many of tomorrow’s coastal stewards will get their first start here at the Sweeney Center, and we hope they will continue to help support the center mission in years to come as we all work to preserve these coastal traditions.”
In addition to the fundraiser for the center itself, the building’s namesake was also honored as NYFFTA’s John Mantione presented an award to Assemblyman Sweeney on behalf a new scholarship in the legislator’s honor. In conjunction with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County and New York Sea Grant, Mantione announced the formation of the Sport Fishing Education Center’s Bob Sweeney Scholarship Fund which has been officially dedicated to bringing the sport of fishing, along with an understanding of our marine environment, to the youth of Long Island.
“Through the awarding of scholarships to the Sport Fishing Education Center’s Marine Explorers Camp, the Sport Fishing Education Center’s Bob Sweeney Scholarship Fund will help increase educational opportunities through partial tuition assistance for those children who display devoted interest in helping conserve the valuable coastal resources of New York State,” Mantione said.