Website and social campaign to focus on helping businesses and individuals in the fishing community impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
Fish For Each Other, a website and subsequent social media campaign (#fishforeachother) aimed to support the fishing industry during the COVID-19 pandemic, launched last week.
Fishforeachother.com serves as a centralized hub, providing a way for people to support members of the fishing industry affected by COVID-19 and deliver ongoing fishing-related news and content. The unprecedented circumstances surrounding the pandemic have endangered the livelihoods of thousands working in the recreational fishing industry, along with many other sectors of the economy.
The website will highlight programs from across the U.S. specifically aimed at supporting captains, guides, tackle shops and other small businesses who are now looking for alternative ways to generate income. With a severe dip in travel, guides and captains are particularly hard hit, as uncertainty around COVID-19 has led to a dramatic increase in canceled bookings. And without any indication as to when stay at home orders will be lifted, many trips are simply not being rebooked. Another area of the sportfishing industry equally hard hit are tackle shops, who rely heavily on consistent traffic from anglers. While services such as online sales and curbside pickup of tackle have helped, it is not enough to replace sales lost by the decreased activity and travel.
Fish for Each Other is the creation of Wisconsin-based active lifestyle marketing agency Gunpowder, who counts a number of the top outdoors and fishing brands among its clients.
“Our culture, and our livelihood, is rooted in the outdoors and fishing industry,” said Gunpowder founder Ryan Chuckel. “They’re our clients, our friends and our family. We created Fish for Each Other to provide a centralized location for people, like us, to find ways to help our fishing brothers and sisters. So many folks are already doing amazing things to support the industry we love. This is simply our way of connecting the dots between those doing good and those who want to help. While the future is uncertain, there’s no doubt in our minds that, with all of our help, the fishing community will bounce back, stronger and more unified than ever.”
To get involved, visit fishforeachother.com to see ways to contribute to the cause, check in on the latest fishing-related news surrounding the pandemic, and inspirational, entertaining content to pass the time during quarantine. There is also a growing list of local, independent tackle shops who are finding ways to serve their customers while still abiding by local and state restrictions. The organizers behind the site are also asking people in the fishing industry to bring forward other support efforts, funds, news or interesting ideas, which can be submitted directly on the site.
