Seatrout Symposium 2025

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) hosted the Seatrout Symposium in August 2025. This one-day event brought together stakeholders, scientists, and fisheries managers to discuss the spotted seatrout fishery and management in Florida. Presentations covered spotted seatrout biology, results from the 2024 seatrout stock assessment and 2025 angler satisfaction survey, the importance of habitat, and the evolution of seatrout management over time.  

View event photos

Watch a recorded version at TheFloridaChannel.org

Links to presentation PDFs will be provided on this page in the near future. Please check back for updates. 

7:30 a.m. Registration check-in begins

Opening Remarks

8:30 a.m. Welcome & opening remarks Chelsey Crandall

8:35 a.m. Housekeeping Chelsey Crandall

What is the status of spotted seatrout in Florida?

8:45 a.m. Spotted seatrout biology Sue Barbieri

9:10 a.m. 2024 Florida spotted seatrout stock assessment & fishery data Dustin Addis

9:40 a.m. Spotted seatrout management in Florida Jessica McCawley

10:00 a.m. Break

Habitat Conservation & Restoration

10:20 a.m. Tampa Bay Estuary Program and IRL National Estuary Program: Habitat restoration initiatives Kerry Flaherty Walia & Daniel Kolodny

10:50 a.m. Overview of FWC estuarine habitat restoration & research Brad Furman & Annie Roddenberry

11:15 a.m. Panel discussion & audience questions Chelsey Crandall

12:00 p.m. Lunch

Participant Feedback on Seatrout in Florida & Staff Engagement

1:30 p.m. 2025 Spotted Seatrout Angler Survey results & break-out session goals Matt Kenworthy

1:45 p.m. Break-out session Multiple Staff

3:45 p.m. Break

4:00 p.m. Dot exercise & staff engagement All Staff & Participants

5:00 p.m. Adjourn