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Remarks by Mike Nussman ASA President and CEO

State of the Industry Breakfast July 16, 2013

Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Florida

Good morning, everyone. I’m Mike Nussman, president and CEO of the American Sportfishing Association.

It’s my pleasure to welcome you to Orlando for the 57th International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades, known to all of you as ICAST. I also want to thank you for being here this morning.

For some of you this may be your first ICAST and first State of the Industry Breakfast, for some they are annual events. Whether you are an exhibitor, a buyer, a media representative or other member of the sportfishing community, I want to thank you for choosing to attend the trade show.

And I want to thank all of our member exhibitors and sponsors for your commitment and your support of the association and the industry.

We’ve got a lot to fit into our program this morning, including hearing from ESPN’s most knowledgeable and entertaining college football analysts, Lee Corso, our keynote speaker.

But first, I’d like to recognize a long-time outdoor journalist, conservation writer and great supporter of our industry and our association.

Last night during the New Product Showcase Reception, the Professional Outdoor Media Association and ASA awarded Doug Olander, Editor in Chief of Sport Fishing magazine, the 2014 Homer Circle Fishing Communicator Award for his life-long dedication to our sport. Doug, would you please stand.

Now, please join me in a round of applause. Congratulations, Doug!

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Speaking of dedication, last month I was a member of a delegation of conservation leaders, led by Bass Pro Shops founder, John L. Morris, who met with former President George H. W. Bush at his home in Kennebunkport, Maine. We were there to honor him for his efforts to conserve our nation’s fisheries and to wish him a happy 90th birthday.

While in office, Mr. Bush signed into law a number of bills that had a tremendous, positive impact on fisheries conservation, including improvements to the Sport Fish Restoration Act.

To that end, ASA presented him the inaugural KeepAmericaFishing Lifetime Achievement award. And 30 years ago, we presented President Bush with our first Fisherman of the Year award. Thank you, President Bush, for all you’ve done for our industry and our sport.

As Gregg noted, this is the second year we are co-locating with IFTD. That was a big change for us, and a positive one. This is the largest, most well-attended and diverse show we’ve produced in its 57 years. Although moving the show to Orlando and the co-location certainly have an impact on that, it was the board of directors’ willingness to make these changes, which has had a very positive impact on our show.

You know, having your back with federal and state policy makers when decisions are made that impact our industry is one of the most important aspects of our work.

For the past 12 years, Gordon Robertson, ASA’s Vice President and the lead for our government relations efforts, has braved the Halls of Congress and the White House leading the charge for you and our sport. It hasn’t always been easy – with issues from excise taxes, to no-fishing zones, to the sportsman’s act, Gordon’s patience and tenacity to stay on course deserves far more credit than I can give it here today.

However, with a new boat and a new granddaughter beckoning, Gordon officially retired from ASA on June 30. He’s here for ICAST and will continue to work with us part time up through August, so please seek him out and give him your best. Gordon, please stand for a well-deserved round of applause for all you have done.

Thank you, Gordon, for everything.

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We have also made some other changes to the ASA staff. As many of you may know, long-time industry member, Glenn Hughes, formerly with Bonnier Corporation, joined the staff as Vice President for Industry Relations late last year. Just a couple weeks ago, Liz Ogilvie, formerly with WFN, joined the staff as the new KeepAmericaFishing Director. Liz has many years in the industry and is an avid angler. A big plus when it comes to understanding our nation’s anglers as KeepAmericaFishing continues to evolve. Please welcome both Glenn and Liz.

As an association, we’ve been looking out for your business interests for more than 80 years. You know when I visited with President Bush last month, I reflected back on his 90 years, and of course our 81 years. Eighty-one years is a long time in the business world….or in sports.

I found a study that compared the Fortune 500 companies from 1955 – 2011 – just about the same timeframe as the trade show. Eye opening, but not shocking, is that 87 percent of the 1955 member companies are gone. Of course there are many reasons why businesses fail or fall to the wayside. The same is true for countries and governments. Both have been the subject of significant study and many theories. I’ll come back to this in a few minutes.

But simply understanding and incorporating the mind-boggling explosion of technology that has transformed our lives is enough to keep many of us up at night. Like one of these things. Speaking of technology – I’d like everyone to take the instructions on your table on how to download the new ICAST mobile app with you when you leave today. It’s a great way to organize your time at the show.

And no, much to the regret of my treasurer, Peter Foley, we’re not charging $1.99 for it. It’s free!

But back to the rapidity with which the world is changing…the issue isn’t acknowledging the change – that train left the station a long time ago. The challenge is recognizing what is changing, who is willing to change and harnessing our ability to manage and stay ahead of it.

As we navigate a course for the future, ASA is staying true to the commitments that have defined us throughout our 81-year history, adapting and refining our efforts in response to both the urgent and

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long-term needs of our industry. So, what’s at stake and what are we doing about it?

Each year, more than 140 million Americans – over 40 million who call themselves anglers – make outdoor recreation a priority in their lives – and they prove it with their wallets.

According to the Outdoor Industry Association, annually, Americans spend more than $640 billion on outdoor recreation. Anglers alone have a $125 billion impact on our nation’s economy. Ensuring access to our public lands and waters – to recreation – protects our economy, your businesses and our nation’s communities who depend on outdoor recreation.

However, many people – myself included - believe we are on the cusp of a period of big changes in outdoor recreation and the industries that support it. Some will be winners and some will be losers.

We need to not just be aware of this – we need to be on the forefront of defining – and even redefining - our sport to shape our own destiny during the coming decade. And as you know, these efforts have already begun.

The investment we’ve made in RBFF with the Take Me Fishing campaign and the new Hispanic outreach campaign – Vamos A Pescar – is addressing our country’s changing demographics.

And our long-term partnership with the great Disney brand is an excellent way to introduce families and young people to our sport in an environment where they are open and eager to try new things.

With KeepAmericaFising™, our angler advocacy campaign, we have created a bridge between the industry and anglers. This program has the potential to become an even stronger voice of influence with federal and state policy makers as it continues to grow and evolve. We have only begun to tap the passion and commitment anglers have to our sport.

Two years ago, we launched the FishSmart Tackle Program because improving the survival of released fish it is the right thing to do for our fisheries resources. We’ve developed a new program to recognize ASA members that offer tackle and gear for releasing fish. You’ll be hearing a lot more about this program as it rolls out in the next couple months.

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Another big change that we’ve pushed for is establishing a national policy to recognize and promote recreational saltwater fishing. We’ve joined with the Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, the Center for Coastal Conservation, the National Marine Manufacturers Association and others in this effort. For more than three decades, NOAA has focused primarily on commercial fishing with recreational fishing as an afterthought.

Congress is now in the process of reauthorizing the law that manages saltwater fishing and it’s time for them to recognize saltwater recreational fishing’s impact on our economy. And that includes opening the ‘rusted-shut’ door of marine fisheries allocation to achieve the greatest benefit to this nation.

But I think the biggest thing we have going for us, the piece that gives me the greatest hope for the future, is not a new initiative at all. In fact it’s as old as our trade association. It’s the method by which we finance the management and maintenance of our sport. Back in 1937, the hunting equipment manufactures got together and convinced Congress to place an excise tax on their products to pay for wildlife restoration and conservation.

And in 1950, our industry followed suit with fishing tackle and later with motorboat fuel taxes. And in return for receiving these funds, states had to agree to use them and anglers license dollars to invest in our sport, not divert them to any other purpose.

Today, anglers and boaters as well as our industry invest through our licenses, taxes and donations, more than $1.6 billion each year. If we include hunters and shooters, the total is over $3.6 billion annually. It is these dollars that drives fisheries and wildlife management and recreational access in all 50 states. It’s our investment in our future.

But let’s get back to my point on the changing face of outdoor recreation. For most of the history of our association, these fees, our investments, have been spent in pretty much the same way.

In other words, our portfolio has stayed unchanged.

And for many of those years, that investment philosophy served us well! But today, with technology, with the demographic changes, with political changes, I think we, along with our partners in the boating industry, as well as our friends in state and federal government, need to take a long hard look at where these investments are directed, at

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the makeup of our portfolio. And while I’m not advocating specific changes today, I’ll be very surprised if a portfolio designed in the 1950s continues to maximize our return today as a community.

To that end, I want to invite you to attend this year’s annual meeting, our Sportfishing Summit, being held in San Antonio, Texas, where we’re going to build on the change theme I’ve touched on this morning. We’ve got a blue ribbon panel of outdoor industry executives who will talk about outdoor recreation’s future.

We have global futurist Jack Uldrich who will address why unlearning what you know today is vital to your business future. And Charlie Cook, the best political analyst in the nation, will provide his insights on what should be the very interesting November elections.

If you haven’t come before, this is the year to start!

Now, without further ado, I’d like to introduce you to our morning’s keynote speaker, Lee Corso. Lee is the most knowledgeable, opinionated and entertaining college football analyst on TV today. Lee joined ESPN in 1987 after 28 years of football coaching experience at the college and professional levels, including 17 seasons as a head coach. He’s got some great stories to tell and a unique perspective on what it means to strive for excellence in an ever-changing world. It’s now my great pleasure to welcome Lee Corso.