Florida Fishing Academy Captain Richard Brochu BY CA STAFF
Capt. Brochu helps a student show off his catch.
Captain Richard Brochu is the founder of the Florida Fishing Academy (FFA) in Palm Beach County. Since 2006, FFA has used fshing as a way to teach kids positive life skills, steering them away from things like gangs and drugs and toward a lifetime of enjoyment on the water. FFA uses an after-school program along with summer camps and special events to engage kids with fshing, kayaking, snorkeling and other forms of watery fun. From just one school and 50 kids in its frst year, the program now reaches almost 2,000 kids annually across 10 different locations.
CA: How did you get started teaching kids about fshing?
One day, while picking up my daughter at her after-school
RB: It started with my daughter. I’m originally from Maine
to teach kids (like me) how to fsh. She said, “No, would you
and fshed when I was young. I didn’t start fshing again
like to start one?” So I did. We began with one program
until my wife bought me a rod and I started fshing in
in one school, but by 2009, it had grown to the point I
lakes here in Florida. I later got into fshing ofshore. I was
decided to do it full time.
program, I asked the instructor if there were any programs
a very avid fsherman, but I didn’t have a clue about what I was doing. I caught fsh, but mostly by accident. In 2006, I injured my back—not seriously—and had to take some time away from my construction business to let it heal. I got bored and decided I needed to learn more about fshing.
CA: Are you a better fsherman now? What did you teach the kids? RB: I hope so! Maybe a little bit. I found a program used by the FWC [Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission] called Hooked on Fishing, Not on Drugs. We started with that and it was great. I continued to refne the course and fnd out what works for us. I learned fast that
