The SARP is currently comprised of representatives from the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (Marine Resources Division and Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division); Arkansas Game and Fish Commission; Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission; Georgia Department of Natural Resources; Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council; Gulf States Marine Fisheries Commission; Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources; Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; Mississippi Department of Marine Resources; Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; Missouri Department of Conservation; National Marine Fisheries Service; North Carolina Department of Environment, Health, and Natural Resources; North

Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission; Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation; South Atlantic Fishery Management Council; South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency; Texas Parks and Wildlife Department; and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission also has recently decided to sign the SARP MOU.

The SARP is focusing its efforts in six key aquatic resource issue areas of greatest concern in the Southeast:

Public use.

Mitigation of fishery losses due to dams.

Imperiled fish and aquatic species recovery.

Interjurisdictional fisheries.

Aquatic habitat conservation.

Aquatic nuisance species.

A key strategy of the SARP will be to initiate joint ventures for aquatic resources, patterned after the very successful joint ventures that have been instrumental in helping to reverse the serious declines in the continent's migratory bird populations. A major benefit of SARP includes a greater voice in seeking support from other partners and stakeholders, including Congressional support for funding initiatives.

In 2003, the SARP was awarded a Multistate Conservation Grant from the FWS through the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. The 3-year grant of $232,500 has enabled the SARP to hire Marilyn Barrett-O'Leary as a full-time aquatic nuisance species coordinator. Employment of the ANS coordinator will enable the SARP to successfully implement one of the key projects identified in the ANS Action Agenda, specifically, to develop ANS plans and strategies for each of the 13 SARP states.

In March 2004 the SARP obtained a $75,000 matching grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to begin development of an Aquatic Habitat Plan for the Southeast to address concerns about declining populations of fish and other aquatic organisms. This project will focus on four specific watersheds: the Altamaha River in Georgia; the Duck River in Tennessee; the Pascagoula River in Mississippi, and the Roanoke River in North Carolina and Virginia.

The SARP is also seeking additional funding to expand this pilot effort into development of a comprehensive Aquatic Habitat Plan for the entire Southeast. A Southeast Aquatic Habitat Plan could be a model for a National Fish Habitat Plan that has been proposed by FWS, the Sport Fishing and Boating Partnership Council, and IAFWA.