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Major Policy Review Appears to Shortchange Sport and Recreational Fishing

By U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance - The Obama Administration recently released a management plan for the oceans and Great Lakes that could have a huge negative impact on fishing in coastal areas.

The plan is called the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force.  The policies outlined in the report will govern federal ocean and Great Lakes waters.  The report focuses on shifting to “ecosystem-based management as a foundational principle for the comprehensive management of the ocean, our coasts, and the Great Lakes.”

Of particular concern to many organizations is the absence of any reference in the report to the positive impact recreational anglers have on aquatic conservation.  Instead, it raises an alarm as to what the framework for zoning in these waters will be when the final report is presented to the president by early December.  The consequence of that framework could result in severe restrictions including the elimination of many popular, historically important recreational fishing areas.

Numerous conservation organizations have publicly stated their concerns over this plan.  In a recent press release, Gordon Robertson, vice president of the American Sportfishing Association, stated, “the sportfishing community believes that recreational activities such as responsibly-managed and regulated recreational fishing deserve full consideration and incorporation in the administration’s ocean and Great Lakes policy.”  He went to conclude, “Providing the angling public with access to public resources is no less important than conserving those resources.”

“We hope the Administration recognizes that sportsmen are the greatest conservationists and will not accept any proposals shutting off large tracts of coastal territory to them,” stated Rob Sexton, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance vice president for government affairs.  “If access for fishing becomes overly restricted, there will be a significant decline in resources dedicated to future conservation.”