IN MEMORIUM: TODD STALEY

MARLIN Magazine

1 May 2024

The Costa Rican sport-fish­ing scene lost one of its biggest advoc­ates when Todd Sta­ley passed away in early Feb­ru­ary after a lengthy ill­ness. At the time of his death, Sta­ley was com­mu­nic­a­tions dir­ector for FECOP, the coun­try’s sport-fish­ing advocacy group with an impress­ive track record of suc­cess. But Sta­ley’s impact goes back dec­ades to his days on Flor­ida’s west coast.

A pas­sion­ate angler, Sta­ley and a close friend launched 12 Fathom Lures, named after the depths in Boca Grande Pass. He made his first trip to Costa Rica in the late 1980s and was later hired to man­age the famed Rio Col­or­ado Lodge. Sta­ley also ran the Golfito Sail­fish Ran­cho on the Pacific Coast before assum­ing the role as fish­ing dir­ector for the nearby Cro­codile Bay Resort.

Always a hands-on con­ser­va­tion­ist and writer, Sta­ley began his affil­i­ation with FECOP in 2018. With his extens­ive net­work within the local fish­ing com­munity, he worked tire­lessly to move indus­trial purse sein­ers 80 miles off­shore, pro­tect­ing hun­dreds of thou­sands of square miles of ocean, sav­ing dol­phins, sharks, turtles and bill­fish, and bring­ing tuna back to coastal waters where a strong sus­tain­able fish­ery has sub­sequently developed. He was also at the fore­front of the efforts to pro­tect sail­fish from com­mer­cial har­vest.

Always a hands-on con­ser­va­tion­ist and writer, Sta­ley began his affil­i­ation with FECOP in 2018. With his extens­ive net­work within the local fish­ing com­munity, he worked tire­lessly to move indus­trial purse sein­ers 80 miles off­shore, pro­tect­ing hun­dreds of thou­sands of square miles of ocean, sav­ing dol­phins, sharks, turtles and bill­fish, and bring­ing tuna back to coastal waters where a strong sus­tain­able fish­ery has sub­sequently developed. He was also at the fore­front of the efforts to pro­tect sail­fish from com­mer­cial har­vest.

Always a hands-on con­ser­va­tion­ist and writer, Sta­ley began his affil­i­ation with FECOP in 2018. With his extens­ive net­work within the local fish­ing com­munity, he worked tire­lessly to move indus­trial purse sein­ers 80 miles off­shore, pro­tect­ing hun­dreds of thou­sands of square miles of ocean, sav­ing dol­phins, sharks, turtles and bill­fish, and bring­ing tuna back to coastal waters where a strong sus­tain­able fish­ery has sub­sequently developed. He was also at the fore­front of the efforts to pro­tect sail­fish from com­mer­cial har­vest.

Always a hands-on con­ser­va­tion­ist and writer, Sta­ley began his affil­i­ation with FECOP in 2018. With his extens­ive net­work within the local fish­ing com­munity, he worked tire­lessly to move indus­trial purse sein­ers 80 miles off­shore, pro­tect­ing hun­dreds of thou­sands of square miles of ocean, sav­ing dol­phins, sharks, turtles and bill­fish, and bring­ing tuna back to coastal waters where a strong sus­tain­able fish­ery has sub­sequently developed. He was also at the fore­front of the efforts to pro­tect sail­fish from com­mer­cial har­vest.

“Our fight is not over and we will con­tinue work­ing with ded­ic­a­tion to honor Todd’s leg­acy,” says FECOP exec­ut­ive dir­ector Mar­ina Mar­rari. “His vis­ion was that of a vibrant ocean, where recre­ational and com­mer­cial fish­er­men coex­is­ted in bal­ance with nature, bring­ing oppor­tun­it­ies and devel­op­ment for coastal com­munit­ies in his beloved Costa Rica. Most import­antly, he was a gentle lov­ing soul, an uncon­di­tional friend, father and hus­band. He will be remembered for gen­er­a­tions to come for his great work and writ­ing, but most import­antly for his integ­rity, gen­er­os­ity, and unwaver­ing ded­ic­a­tion to con­ser­va­tion.”

Capt. Dave Lear

Pace, Flor­ida