Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

What Fish and Wildlife Research Institute does

The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) is the scientific research division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), a state government agency headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, with FWRI operations centered in St. Petersburg. Established in 1999, FWRI conducts scientific research on Florida's marine and freshwater ecosystems, spanning freshwater fisheries, saltwater fisheries, GIS and mapping, habitat research, manatee research, red tide monitoring, and wildlife research. Its core technology stack is built around spatial data analysis, satellite imagery, field sampling, laboratory analysis, and specialized techniques such as electrical resistivity tomography for submarine groundwater discharge analysis. The institute operates flagship programs including the Seagrass Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program (SIMM) covering 23 regional chapters statewide, the Fisheries Habitat Assessment Program, red tide status monitoring, and manatee conservation research. Notable technical components include long-term ecological datasets, statewide GIS data products distributed through geodata.myfwc.com, and novel research into viral infection dynamics in seagrasses using turtlegrass virus X as a model system.

FWRI is not a commercial enterprise and generates no commercial revenue in the traditional sense. It is funded through Florida state appropriations, federal grants (including EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service State Wildlife Grants), and license/permit fees charged for recreational and commercial fishing, hunting, wildlife, and vessel activities. Free educational resources and publications are distributed to the public. Its customer base spans four primary segments: recreational anglers and hunters (the primary segment), commercial fishermen and charter operators, conservation partners and academic researchers, and Florida residents managing wildlife interactions on private property. The institute partners strategically with the University of South Florida, University of North Florida, Florida International University, Georgia Southern University, and the National Wildlife Federation on collaborative research and citizen-science initiatives. Public engagement is delivered through the Go Outdoors Florida licensing portal, MarineQuest education programming, citizen-science angler recognition programs (TrophyCatch, Big Catch, Catch a Florida Memory), iNaturalist integration, and the Wildlife Alert online reporting system powered by ArcGIS Survey123.

Name

Fish and Wildlife Research Institute

Legal name

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

Website

https://[email protected]

Company type

Public

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1,001–5,000 employees

Short description

The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) is the scientific research division of Florida's state fish and wildlife agency, conducting ecological monitoring, habitat assessment, and species research across Florida's marine and freshwater ecosystems for policymakers, scientists, and the public.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wildlife Conservation Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Coastal & Marine Resources Administration (Oceans, Fisheries, Shorelines) (BPAIAMAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Oceans, Coastal & Marine Resource Management (BPADALAI)

Keywords

• Fisheries research
• Wildlife conservation
• Marine habitat monitoring
• GIS mapping services
• Environmental science

Headquarters

HQ city

Tallahassee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

FWRI is the scientific research division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, conducting research on Florida's marine and freshwater fish and wildlife resources. Core offerings include freshwater fisheries research, saltwater fisheries research, seagrass habitat research, red tide monitoring, manatee research, wildlife research, and GIS/mapping services. The institute also provides public-facing services including fishing licenses and permits, citizen-science angler recognition programs, fishing sites and forecasts, and the MarineQuest marine education outreach program.

Product overview

The Fish and Wildlife Research Institute (FWRI) is the research division of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, operating as a platform of interconnected research programs and public-facing services. Core research areas include Freshwater Fisheries Research, GIS and Mapping, Seagrass Research (with the SIMM program), Red Tide Monitoring, Manatee Research, and Wildlife Research. Public-facing products include the Fishing Sites & Forecasts portal, the Bass Weight Calculator tool, and three citizen-science Angler Recognition Programs (TrophyCatch, Big Catch, and Catch a Florida Memory). The organization also provides educational resources through MarineQuest, wildlife habitat certification programs, and comprehensive fishing education content. GIS data and web mapping applications serve policymakers, scientists, and resource managers through the geodata.myfwc.com portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• GIS and Mapping Services
• Freshwater Fisheries Research Program

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServicemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012State Wildlife Grant funding for Springs Coast seagrass monitoring project. Part of FWRI's statewide Seagrass Integrated Mapping and Monitoring Program (SIMM).
• Georgia Southern UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research partnership on submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) dynamics and their relationship to seagrass communities in western Florida Bay. Part of a three-year EPA-funded study involving benthic ecologists and geologists.
• Florida International UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research partnership on submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) dynamics and their relationship to seagrass communities in western Florida Bay. Part of a three-year EPA-funded study.
• University of South Florida (USF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVIDA Seagrass project collaboration to study viral infection dynamics in seagrasses using turtlegrass virus X (TVX) as a model system. USF researchers first identified TVX in 2016 within Tampa Bay.
• University of North Florida (UNF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVIDA Seagrass project collaboration to study viral infection dynamics in seagrasses, investigating turtlegrass-virus interactions and the effects of viral infections on seagrass health.
• Various Research InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative turtle grass health study from 1997-1999 involving multiple institutions evaluating turtle grass beds from the Chandeleur Islands in Mississippi to the Florida Keys.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS): State-affiliated marine research institute within William & Mary that conducts coastal and estuarine research, including seagrass, fisheries, and habitat monitoring. Functionally analogous to FWRI's marine research division but at smaller geographic scale; comparable as a peer coastal research institution.
• Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium: Independent marine research institution based in Sarasota, Florida, with active programs in red tide, coral, sea turtle, and fisheries research that intersect directly with FWRI's saltwater and red tide portfolio. Operates as a non-profit peer research provider within Florida, sometimes collaborating and sometimes parallel to FWRI on overlapping research questions.

Broad incumbents

• U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): Federal scientific agency conducting ecological, hydrological, and biological research relevant to FWRI's habitat, wildlife, and freshwater programs. USGS produces comparable long-term ecological datasets and geological/hydrological mapping that complement FWRI's fisheries and seagrass work.
• NOAA Fisheries (National Marine Fisheries Service): Federal agency responsible for marine fisheries science and management across U.S. waters, including stock assessments, habitat research, and endangered species work that overlaps with FWRI's saltwater fisheries and manatee programs. Operates at much broader geographic scale and serves as a key federal partner and occasional collaborator with state institutes like FWRI.
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Federal agency managing fish, wildlife, and habitat conservation nationally, including endangered species, national wildlife refuges, and the State Wildlife Grants program that has funded FWRI's Springs Coast seagrass project. Already a documented Major-tier partner of FWRI; comparable in research and conservation mandate but at federal scale.

Regional players

• South Carolina Department of Natural Resources: South Carolina's state agency responsible for natural resource management including freshwater and marine fisheries, wildlife, and habitat research. Comparable organizational structure to FWC, but operates in an adjacent geographic region with overlapping estuarine and coastal species rather than directly in Florida.

Direct peers

• California Department of Fish and Wildlife: California's state fish and wildlife agency operates a research arm and manages hunting, fishing, and species conservation at statewide scale. Directly comparable to FWC in mandate, organizational structure (commission + research division), and scope of activities including habitat monitoring, species assessments, and licensing.
• Alaska Department of Fish and Game: Alaska's primary state agency for fish and wildlife research and management, with a Division of Sport Fish and Division of Wildlife Conservation analogous to FWRI's research portfolio. Comparable in conducting applied fisheries and wildlife research, managing licensing programs, and producing statewide assessments.
• Texas Parks and Wildlife Department: Texas's state fish and wildlife agency, structurally comparable to FWC: conducts fish and wildlife research, manages hunting and fishing licensing, enforces regulations, and operates statewide habitat and species monitoring. Both agencies combine scientific research, regulatory enforcement, and public engagement within a single state-government structure.
• New York State Department of Environmental Conservation: New York's state agency combining environmental protection, fish and wildlife management, and licensing functions in a structure analogous to FWC. Comparable in mandate across freshwater fisheries, wildlife conservation, habitat monitoring, and regulatory enforcement.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MyFWC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fish-and-wildlife-research-institute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Fish and Wildlife Research Institute