Advancing Our Mission
Making an Impact
In 2025, Return 'Em Right launched new initiatives, expanded its digital reach, strengthened partnerships, and continued delivering training and free release gear to Gulf reef fish anglers. The program successfully trained and equipped thousands of anglers across the Gulf of America, helping improve fish survival and strengthen the future of the fishery.
Take a look at our milestone moments to see what Return 'Em Right accomplished in 2025.
Take a look at our milestone moments to see what Return 'Em Right accomplished in 2025.
Education & Training
Thousands of anglers stepped up to embrace best release practices by participating in our online training. Our community gained:
7,586 Private recreational anglers
47 Federal for-hire captains
126 State for-hire captains
Education remains at the forefront of Return ’Em Right’s mission to improve the survival of released reef fish. Through its online training on barotrauma and best release practices, anglers gain the knowledge, skills, and tools necessary to support healthy fisheries for generations to come.
Expanding Our Social Network
Our growing digital presence allows us to meet anglers where they are, both on the water and online. We gained:
13,000 new social media followers
5+ million views across Instagram and Facebook
59,000 new website users
127,000 page views
Keeping Our Community Informed
We launched a new monthly blog series, diving deeper into barotrauma science, conservation, and best release practices.
Click below to read them.
Tournaments: Where Impact Multiplies
Tournament anglers release high volumes of fish in pursuit of a category winner. Our goal is to make sure those released fish survive to grow, spawn, or be caught by another angler.
Catch. Click. Release. Photo Contest
For the second consecutive year, Return 'Em Right hosted a summer-long virtual photo competition encouraging anglers to showcase proper release practices.
New Sponsorship: Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo
Return ‘Em Right introduced a release category in 2025 incentivizing anglers to use descending devices at one of the nation’s oldest and largest fishing tournaments.
Continued Sponsorship: Destin Fishing Rodeo
Return 'Em Right sponsored this tournament for a second year to help continue promoting best release practices during one of the Gulf’s most iconic fishing events.
Measurable Impact
Monitoring the impact Return ‘Em Right has on fisheries and the fishing community continues to be an important piece of the program.
Shifting Tides: Insights Into Gulf Reef Fish Anglers Over Time
The second round of our human dimensions research was completed in 2025, assessing changes in angler awareness, attitudes, and use of best release practices over the past three years. We are encouraged to see growing awareness and adoption of nearly all best release practices! Click below to read more.
Feedback from the Return 'Em Right Community
Descending device use increased after program participation and held steady through Year 3, with 82% of anglers preferring descending devices and 15% preferring venting.
Fisheries Monitoring & Tagging
State agencies continued tagging and releasing reef fish to monitor outcomes and assess survival trends.
680 observer trips were conducted across Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas.
7,995 reef fish were tagged and released across Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi.
Looking Forward
2026 will bring exciting changes designed to better serve the angling community.
Education & Training
Upgrades to the online education platform will allow anglers to re‑access completed courses with ease and provide a foundation for expanding educational courses in the future.
Tournaments
Continued partnerships with tournaments to incentivize best release practices during high-volume release events.
Expansion
In June 2025, Return ‘Em Right was approved for expansion under the Open Ocean Trustee Implementation Group Final Restoration Plan 4. As expansion begins, we are focused on strengthening program infrastructure to ensure long-term efficiency, effectiveness, and impact.
