The Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) is a conservation and research group that was founded in 1998 (as “Bonefish & Tarpon Unlimited”). The BTT focuses on bonefish, tarpon and permit, which are the “big three” flats species in the recreational fishing world. On a very small budget ($1.6 million in grants and contributions as of 2014, according to the group’s most recent IRS filing), the BTT punches well above its weight when it comes to impactful research and influence, pioneering and conducting groundbreaking research on these previously under-studied species that has lead directly to beneficial conservation measures.
To be sure, the BTT has friends and donors in high places, like Adolphus Busch IV, Patagonia founder, Yvon Chouinard, and Forbes rich-lister, Bob Rich, as well as companies like Orvis and Bass Pro Shops. But the rubber-meets-the-road work is undertaken by the BTT’s strong staff—led by executive director, Jim McDuffie, a veteran of The Nature Conservancy—and an incredible network of scientists, led by Dr. Aaron Adams, the BTT’s director of science and conservation.
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