The man credited with popularizing sport fishing art and putting the proceeds to work for worldwide fisheries conservation was honored by a large crowd of his peers in a gala ceremony Tuesday night in Dania Beach.

Guy Harvey, 54, whose fish T-shirts are worn by virtually every South Florida angler, is the best known of five men inducted into the 2009 International Game Fish Association Hall of Fame. He also was the only one with his own art exhibit in the IGFA museum.

``I feel very fortunate I've had the opportunity to turn a hobby into an integral part of sportfishing and culture,'' said Harvey, greeted by a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd.

The affable marine wildlife artist, who lives in the Cayman Islands, joins a list of 80 fishing greats honored in the Hall of Fame, including angler/writers Ernest Hemingway and Zane Grey; former Miami MET executive director Lefty Kreh; South Florida bass fishing champion Roland Martin; and outdoors television host/author Mark Sosin of Boca Raton, who served as emcee Tuesday.

Also named to the 2009 Hall of Fame: Australian world-record holder and fishing tackle innovator Jack Erskine; the late Costa Rican angler/conservationist Carlos Barrantes, Sr.; the late Detroit angling historian/pioneer Harlan Major; and the late Stephen Sloan, world record-holder, author, and conservationist.

Although Harvey is a household name among saltwater anglers for his paintings, T-shirts, graphics, and book illustrations, he also is an ardent conservationist. An IGFA Board of Trustees member since 1993, he launched the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in 1999.

Then last year, he formed a Broward-based foundation to support marine research, conservation and education.

To raise money for the foundation, he will be back at the IGFA Wednesday evening for a banquet and auction cohosted by sculptor Kent Ullberg, who Harvey called his ``mentor and guiding force.''

Harvey's educational background backs up his art. Born in Germany and raised in Jamaica, he became fascinated with marine animals as a child and went on to earn a doctoral degree in fisheries management at University of West Indies. But he was consumed by the desire to photograph, paint, and draw the creatures he encountered while fishing and diving.

Last spring, Harvey and some colleagues traveled to the Bahamas on a live-aboard dive boat to conduct research on tiger sharks, which show up on a shallow sandbar known as Tiger Beach.

Harvey spent hours underwater with the sharks, shooting plenty of video footage for an upcoming television documentary. Harvey and the boat crew even managed to catch, tag, and release a nine-foot tiger.

Said IGFA president Rob Kramer: ``Through hands-on experience, Guy truly understands the needs of our oceans and the necessity for all of us to become involved in the stewardship of them.''

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