Great Info / Press Release

[Capt. Jerry P]

Dear NACO Member,

Some of you have seen the numerous press releases regarding the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Interim Report that just completed a 30-day comment period. All major recreational organizations have not only commented, but have also issued press releases attempting to get the public at large to realize how important this issue is.

This issue is probably the single most important issue our industry has ever faced. However, it touches everyone who uses our Oceans or Great Lakes in anyway not just us.

We have attached the comment letter that NACO made on our behalf and we are encouraging you to contact your congressional delegation with your concern that the recreational use of our national marine resources was NOT considered nor did we participate in this interim report.

Additionally we have pasted several of the press releases from other National Organizations for you to review below. This Report will affect you.

Best Regards,

National Association of Charterboat Operators



I remember someone asking for the link from the government

http://www.whitehouse.gov/assets/documents/09_17_09_Interim_Report_of_Task_Force_FINAL2.pdf

[Capt. Jerry P]

Here are some of the responses from Fishing groups/ orgs from the Naco Letter

1. National Marine Manufacturers (NMMA)



Act to Protect Your Right to Fish: Send Comments on the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Interim Report

As reported earlier, Administration officials released the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force Interim Report last month for a 30-day public review and comment period, which ended on October 17. NMMA and its partners are encouraging the Task Force to make recreational boating and fishing a priority. NMMA and coalition partners have participated in a number of meetings with senior White House officials working on this matter. Read NMMA’s full comments here, which outline concerns that the report does not adequately account for the important economic, social and conservation benefits associated with boating and angling in America. Click here to send your own comments to your elected officials—NMMA is still encouraging comments from boaters and anglers even though the deadline has passed. Without input from recreational anglers and boaters, decisions made under this national oceans policy could be used to unnecessarily close saltwater and freshwater recreational fishing areas. For more information, contact Mat Dunn at 202-737-9760; mdunn@nmma.org.





2. American Sportfishing Association



For Immediate Release Mary Jane Williamson, Communications Director,

mjwilliamson@asafishing.org, 703-519-9691, x227, www.asafishing.org



Obama Administration Ignores $125 Billion Sportfishing Industry in New Ocean and Great Lakes Management Policy



Alexandria, VA – October 5, 2009 – A sweeping oceans and Great Lakes management policy document proposed by the Obama Administration will have a significant impact on the sportfishing industry, America’s saltwater anglers and the nation’s coastal communities. The draft policy, the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, issued on September 17, will govern federal Pacific and Atlantic Ocean waters and Great Lakes resource conservation and management and will coordinate these efforts among federal, state and local agencies. This past June, President Obama created the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), to develop a draft national policy and implementation strategy for conserving and managing the United States ocean territory and the Great Lakes.



“While we are by and large supportive of the intent of the Interim Report, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) has serious concerns regarding the direction the administration is taking regarding how to manage our nation’s marine and freshwater public resources, choosing a tone of preservation over conservation,” said ASA Vice President Gordon Robertson. “We are very disappointed that the task force failed to recognize recreational fishing’s significant conservation, economic and social contributions and include recreational fishing as a key policy component. The sportfishing community strongly supports healthy and abundant ocean, coastal and fishery resources which have a direct impact on sustaining vibrant local coastal communities. Outdoor recreation, especially recreational fishing, is an integral part of coastal economies throughout this nation and therefore should be included as a priority in any national ocean policy.”



“In regards to recreational fishing specifically, it is a long-standing policy of the federal government to allow public access to public lands and waters for recreational purposes consistent with sound conservation including the nation’s wildlife refuges, national forests, and national parks and should be reflected in a national policy for the oceans and Great Lakes. In fact, the use of public resources by recreational anglers is essential to the conservation model used in this country for fish and wildlife management,” said ASA Ocean Resource Policy Director Patty Doerr.



Doerr further said, “As with any good federal policy decision, discussions about measures that may restrict public access to public resources must involve an open public process, have a solid scientific basis and incorporate specific guidelines on implementation and follow-up. We are very concerned about the abbreviated 90 day timeline which forced the Task Force to issue this policy document prematurely. The implications of such a policy are vast and nationwide. Therefore, the review process should be very deliberate and go well beyond the 30 days public review and comment period which started on September 17.” The Task Force's Interim Report is currently under a 30-day public review and comment period.



Since 1950, with the passage of the Sport Fish Restoration Act, anglers and the sportfishing industry have provided the bulk of funding for fisheries conservation and management in the United States through fishing license fees and the federal manufacturers excise tax on recreational fishing equipment. According to NOAA Fisheries, saltwater anglers contribute over $82 billion annually to the economy. Despite taking only three percent of the saltwater fish harvested each year, the recreational sector creates nearly half the jobs coming from domestic saltwater fisheries.



Robertson concluded, “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. Providing the angling public with access to public resources is no less important than conserving those resources. Therefore, we urge the Task Force to include recreational fishing as a separate and distinct ocean and Great Lakes priority. We also urge all anglers and recreational fishing supports to make their voices heard.”



In July, met with White House staff to provide comments to CEQ and the Task Force. In August, ASA staff met with Department of Interior staff to discuss their involvement in the Task Force and provide ASA’s perspective on various ocean policy issues, including marine spatial planning and marine reserves.



###



The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) is the sportfishing industry’s trade association, committed to looking out for the interests of the entire sportfishing community. We give the industry a unified voice speaking out when emerging laws and policies could significantly affect sportfishing business or sportfishing itself. We invest in long-term ventures to ensure the industry will remain strong and prosperous as well as safeguard and promote the enduring economic and conservation values of sportfishing in America. ASA also represents the interests of America’s 60 million anglers who generate over $45 billion in retail sales with a $125 billion impact on the nation’s economy creating employment for over one million people.



--

ASA Communications

American Sportfishing Association

225 Reinekers Lane, Suite 420

Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 519-9691 ex. 222

asacomm@asafishing.org

[Capt. Jerry P]

More responses from the letter from Naco

3. Keep America Fishing.org



Keep America Fishing Action Center Home • Elected Officials • Letters and Action Alerts





View All Action Alerts











Action Alert





New National Policy Proposal for the Ocean and Great Lakes Ignores Recreational Fishing
Your input is needed to ensure that this national policy does not unnecessarily close saltwater and freshwater recreational fishing areas



This past June, President Obama created the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. The Task Force, led by the Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), was charged with developing a national policy and implementation strategy for conserving and managing the United States ocean territory and the Great Lakes. The policy will govern ocean and Great Lakes resource management and coordinate efforts among countless federal, state and local agencies.



Without recreational angler input, decisions made under this national oceans policy could be used to unnecessarily close saltwater and freshwater recreational fishing areas.



The Task Force released their Interim Report on September 10, 2009. The single most obvious flaw in the report is the omission of responsibly regulated recreational fishing as a key activity for the oceans and the Great Lakes. In addition, as a national policy document governing the oceans and Great Lakes, the report is skewed toward a preservationist policy of locking up public waters instead of one that promotes sustainable uses such as recreational fishing.



While the public review and comment period for the Interim Report closed on October 17, you can still act to protect your right to fish. Send the letter below to your Members of Congress urging the Task Force to include recreational fishing and boating in the national policy.



Make sure your voice is heard so that anglers' conservation, economic and social contributions are recognized as a key component of the policy.








4. Recreational Fishing Alliance



The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) had requested that our members and constituents be included in these discussions. However, this never happened as a handful of bureaucrats and industry insiders effectively boxed out our concerns. Some members of the national sportfishing and boating industry were apparently included in roundtable discussions with task force members, as were members of the conservation community, and these Beltway insiders claimed to speak on behalf of our coastal stakeholders including anglers and local business owners. Regrettably, their input was obviously either ignored, irrelevant or simply non-existent. Most likely, because they don’t truly understand our issues and frankly, don’t seem to care.

At first review, the task force findings are especially frightening, and appear to fall in line with the new governmental changes experienced across the country with regard to new councils, new bureaucracies and new management principles. This new Oceans Policy hierarchy seems complex and cumbersome, and it’s unclear where the recreational fishing community will have any input. Our researchers and lobbyists are going through the finer details of the government findings, but it’s apparent that no input from coastal communities is reflected in the final analysis.



In terms of the recreational fishing community itself, this new Oceans Policy is very similar to HR 21, a federal bill which would establish a new national policy for our oceans. On June 18, 2009 RFA Executive Director Jim Donofrio testified before the House Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife, chaired by Del. Madeleine Z. Bordallo (D-GU) in opposition to this type of bureaucracy, adding “RFA maintains that Magnuson must remain the nation’s primary fisheries law and that any national ocean policy spawned from H.R. 21 provide guidance and recommendations to Magnuson, not supersede it.”

The President’s new plan creates unnecessary levels of government bureaucracy which threaten to butt up against existing fisheries laws. The original Magnuson Act was created in 1976 to establish regional management councils to address fisheries issues and ensure the sustainability of our fish and fishermen, but this new government bureaucracy seems a blatant attempt to take the management process away from our fishing communities.

Magnuson has been a success in rebuilding fish stocks, but a failure in protecting access. RFA believes that Magnuson needs to be fixed, and it needs to remain in place as the law which governs the management of our coastal fisheries and particularly the sustainability of “vibrant coastal communities.”

While RFA was testifying against these overbearing and needless government bureaucracies which threaten access to our public resources, national industry insiders, conservation elitists and lifelong Washington “Beltway” professionals were apparently claiming to speak on our behalf. These same “representatives” are continuing to build a wall between the real people in the coastal communities, and the legislators tasked with serving these constituents. In some cases it is being done intentionally and in others through ignorance of the issues and implications of the positions they are taking in the long run. In either case the outcome is the same, recreational fishing and businesses suffer the consequences.

RFA has been working tirelessly to fix Magnuson, but we’ve not gotten the national support of the self proclaimed industry leaders who consistently choose to arbitrate our future in closed-door sessions. These are the same industry leaders who forced a seat at the roundtable discussions and then seemed committed to compromising away our rights as American fishermen - the same industry leaders whose decisions supported the more restrictive language in Magnuson that is at the crux of so many of the closures and drastic quota reductions we are experiencing in fisheries around the country today.

By this token, RFA will continue actively opposing needless government intrusion and arbitrary, non-science based “time certain” deadlines carelessly implemented to address statutory overfishing. We will also continue to remind our national allies that individual stakeholders will not be shut out of the management process any longer. These elite beltway insiders might not like the messenger, but they will be hearing the message quite clearly in the coming months.

Let the truth of the record speak for itself!

Jim Hutchinson

Jim Donofrio
Executive Director
Recreational Fishing Alliance
RFA
888-JOIN- RFA
202-236-4867
609-404-1968 FAX
"First For Anglers"