February 9, 2010
New National Policy May Close Marine and Fresh Waters to Recreational Fishing
For more information, contact Gordon Robertson, vice president and Government Affairs lead, 703.519.9691, x237 or Patty Doerr, Ocean Resource Policy Director, x244.
Please act now! Urge President Obama to carefully consider implementing a national policy that could have a major economic impact on our nation’s coastal and Great Lakes communities and the recreational fishing and boating industries.
Despite the complexity of establishing a national policy – and the lack of final, comprehensive recommendations – the President is being pressured to short-circuit the process to put new policies in place through a Presidential executive order. An executive order would bypass the necessary oversight, including Congressional review, which such an important and complex policy deserves.
Background
Last fall, President Obama's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force released its Interim Report regarding a new national ocean and Great Lakes policy. In December, the Task Force also issued an Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, which includes draft recommendations for planning and managing all activities in the nation’s oceans, coastal areas and Great Lakes, including recreational fishing.
The Task Force, led by the Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), is charged with developing a national policy for conserving and managing the United States ocean territory, coastal and Great Lakes resources.
Not only did the Interim Report ignore responsibly regulated recreational fishing as a key economic and sustainable activity, but decisions made under this national policy or the marine spatial planning framework could also be used to unnecessarily close areas of saltwater and freshwater to recreational fishing at a time when our economy can ill-afford to loose jobs and income. The final reports have yet to be released, and it’s vital that the Obama administration understands how recreational fishing and boating can be balanced with resource conservation.
Please act now to protect your access to recreational fishing opportunities.
Take Action Now!
Click here or visit http://capwiz.com/keepamericafishing/issues/alert/?alertid=14653146 send a letter to President Obama, your Members of Congress, the head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Chair of the Ocean Policy Task Force urging them to ensure appropriate Congressional review and oversight before a new ocean and Great Lakes management policy is put in place that could have a dramatic effect on our nation’s economy and the sportfishing and boating industries.
For more information, please visit www.keepamericafishing.org.
