Steve Friedman: A ‘Blue Star’ Steward of Keys Waters
Islamorada fishing guide and captain Steve Friedman loves water: salt water, fresh water, white water, blue water and particularly clean water.
Friedman’s love of water includes prioritizing the preservation and restoration of the South Florida ecosystem, and the management of fisheries that provide a safe haven for the Florida Keys fish he loves to catch: tarpon, bonefish, permit, redfish and snook.
Friedman’s love of water and his pursuit of fishing have taken him around the country. Stops have included Bayles Lake in Illinois, where his grandparents retired; New Mexico’s San Juan River; the Midwest’s Lake Michigan; Colorado’s Eagle, Roaring Fork and Colorado rivers; Florida’s Stuart and Biscayne Bay — where mainland fresh water mixes with salt water — and Everglades National Park, Florida Bay and the Keys, where he made his home.
In the Keys, Friedman served on a committee that founded the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Blue Star Fishing Guide program, with certification encouraging guides to adopt responsible, sustainable fishing practices. The sanctuary also developed a Blue Star program for dive and snorkel operators.
Blue Star certification “signals to customers that they are dealing with a quality, professional fishing guide with knowledge and integrity,” Friedman said.
He’s a founding board member and former president of Florida Bay Forever, a nonprofit environmental protection organization, and was commodore of the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association for six years.
Besides charters with his company, A Fishing Guide, Friedman also conducts eco-tours.
He and wife Kristine live in Islamorada and are the parents of two teenagers: daughter Sidney, 16, a junior at Coral Shores High School; and son Benjamin, 18, who is studying engineering at Valencia College in Orlando.
Keys Traveler: When did you first come to the Florida Keys and why?
Steve Friedman: In 2000, but I had visited many times. My parents bought a home here around 1998. Attractions were always the fishing, environment and lifestyle.
KT: What aspects of the Keys environment or way of life matter most to you?
SF: It’s all about the water. Land life has its perks, but it’s almost just like the place you go when you’re not on a boat. Without clean water, the Keys wouldn’t be the Keys. What’s surprised me the most about Keys life is, time and again, watching this community come together for each other in tough times. I’ve never seen anything like it anywhere else.
KT: Who or what inspired you to become passionate about respecting and protecting the Keys’ natural world?
SF: Job security. If the ecosystem fails, so does my business. Change doesn’t happen on its own. More than once when “someone” should do something, I’ve jumped in to be that someone.
KT: How does that passion influence your work or profession?
SF: Every charter is an opportunity for me to speak about my passion. We chat about the bigger picture: the whole ecosystem that nurtures that prized catch, how and where we can improve their habitat.
KT: What are some of the ways, personally or through your work, that you connect with and/or help protect the local environment and unique lifestyle?
SF: In the early 2000s, I started by getting on the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary’s Advisory Council. When we had a massive seagrass die-off in 2015, I turned my focus toward Everglades restoration.
KT: What keeps you energized, challenged and focused on your path?
SF: My kids and family. I want them to experience the outdoors and a healthy environment. We need to keep working to repair damage we have created so they don’t have to pay the price for our mistakes.
KT: What do you hope your positive environmental actions will accomplish?
SF: To educate people from all over that, if we work together for a common goal, we can accomplish everything. Everglades restoration is the world’s most ambitious environmental restoration project.
KT: What message do you want your actions and example to communicate to people you encounter?
SF: To influence the next generations to stand up for what they believe in. We can’t continue to let economics win over the environment.
KT: What’s your favorite natural or eco-friendly activity in the Keys?
SF: Fishing. The sight-fishing aspect especially. It requires patience, determination, awareness and skill — to absorb everything around you to help you get an edge on the fish. When it happens like that, the issues at home or at work or other troubles you may be experiencing fade away like the tide rolling off a flat.
Friedman was instrumental in the development of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary's Blue Star program for fishing guides that focuses on teaching sustainable recreational practices to clients. Photos courtesy of Steve Friedman.
Friedman is dedicated to supporting efforts leading to clean water from the Everglades flowing through Florida Bay, critical to the health of Keys fisheries and reefs.
In the Keys, it's all about the water, according to Friedman, to support the islands' special way of life interconnected with fragile ecosystems.
Friedman's wife and children keep him energized and focused on a path of advocacy for the Keys' environment.