Open more places to fish
We work to create more legal, safe, and easy public access to freshwater, brackish, and saltwater fishing across the East Coast.
Why this matters
Too much fishable water is effectively locked away by fragmented shoreline ownership, poor signage, missing parking, unsafe access, or lack of public infrastructure.
What we do
We pursue shoreline access agreements, easements, launch points, fishing platforms, site improvements, stewardship programs, and a public map of legal access points.
Built to fix a problem anglers deal with everywhere
Up and down the East Coast, there is fishable water almost everywhere, but legal, practical access is often missing. Shoreline gets cut up by private property, neighborhoods, hidden access roads, bad signage, or no safe place to park. For regular people without waterfront property or a boat, that means a lot of water is effectively off limits.
East Coast Fishing Access Project exists to change that by helping create more legal, safe, and easy public access in both fresh and salt water.
What success looks like
- New bank-fishing access where none existed before
- Better signage, parking, paths, launches, and shoreline access
- Partnerships with landowners, counties, towns, and conservation groups
- A public map that helps people find legal places to fish
The kinds of access we’re trying to create first
We’re starting with practical, visible wins that help everyday anglers: bank access, launch points, shoreline paths, and family-friendly places that people can use without needing private property or a boat.
Pilot region: Chesapeake / Mid-Atlantic
The first push is focused on Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia. It is the right mix of freshwater, tidal, and salt-access opportunity, with a lot of fishable water but not enough easy legal shoreline access for regular people.
What we want to open first
Freshwater bank access, tidal shoreline spots, simple launches, family-friendly nodes, and public parcels that could become useful with parking, signage, paths, or a small platform.
Know a place that should have better fishing access?
Send us places where access is blocked, unclear, unsafe, underused, or could be improved with something simple like a path, sign, launch, or small parking area.
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Support the mission
Join the interest list, share the project, and help build momentum for better public fishing access.
Suggest a site
Know a place that should have public fishing access or could be improved with a path, sign, launch, or small parking area? Submit it.
Partner with us
We want to work with landowners, counties, towns, watershed groups, land trusts, and conservation partners.
Volunteer
Help with cleanups, site visits, mapping, outreach, photography, and stewardship.
Controlled access, not chaos.
We want to work with landowners, counties, towns, watershed groups, and conservation partners to create respectful, clearly defined access. That means written rules, marked boundaries, stewardship, and a single point of contact.
Early partnership goals
- Identify underused public parcels near fishable water
- Explore shoreline access agreements and easements
- Improve access with signage, paths, and launch points
- Build a vetted public map of legal fishing access
Common questions
Are you only focused on saltwater?
No. The project is focused on freshwater, brackish, and saltwater access.
Are you buying land?
Sometimes that may make sense, but the project also looks at easements, access agreements, public parcel improvements, launches, signage, and other lower-cost ways to open access.
Can private landowners work with you?
Yes. We want to help create controlled, respectful access with clear rules and boundaries.
Can I volunteer or submit a location?
Yes. Supporters, volunteers, landowners, counties, and community groups can all get involved.
Reach the project
Use the emails below for general questions, site suggestions, or partnership conversations.
General
Site suggestions
Partnerships
Help build the first wave of public fishing access wins
This project is just getting started. Join the list, suggest a site, volunteer, or reach out as a landowner, public agency, or partner organization.
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