National Fishing & Boating Week 2005 Highlights
ASA thanks all its members and partners for their support
ASA’s National Fishing and Boating Week events held June 6–8,
2005, provided an opportunity for ASA members to meet with Members
of Congress and federal agency representatives to discuss
policy issues. A number of ASA members met with eleven Members of
Congress or their staff to advocate for the interests of the sportfishing
industry. Issues covered in these meetings included Wallop-Breaux
reauthorization; military fishing programs; the upcoming Magnuson-Stevens
legislation; and access to sportfishing opportunities on land under
the National Park Service.
The week began with a kids’ fishing
event in Washington, D.C. Approximately 400 children from
the greater D.C. Metro area were taught the basics of fishing
at Constitution Gardens on the National Mall. Between the Foundations,
ASA and Fred Hall staff, nine people participated in this annual
event. The day ended with a member
reception and boat cruise on the Potomac River.
ASA’s
Excise Tax, Government Affairs, Finance, Advocacy, Data and Statistics
committees and the Freshwater and Saltwater subcommittees met during
the week.
These meetings were followed by a luncheon featuring James
L. Connaughton,
chairman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, as
the keynote speaker. Connaughton discussed the current administration’s
direction related to sportfishing interests and then took questions
from some of the more than 50 ASA members, partners and staff in
attendance.
The annual Congressional reception was
held Tuesday night in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol
Hill. During the Hill reception, ASA awarded its highest honors
to two life-long members of the sportfishing community; Jerry
Gibbs, fishing editor, Outdoor Life magazine, and Gary
Loomis, founder of G. Loomis, Inc. Over 80 people attended
ASA events, with approximately 175 people attending the Capitol
Hill reception.
The week’s events wrapped up with a Capitol Hill breakfast
briefing co-sponsored by ASA and the Congressional Sportsmen’s
Foundation. A standing room only crowd heard Dr. William Hogarth, assistant
administrator for Fisheries at the National Marine Fisheries Service,
discuss current and future NOAA policies and activities that have
an impact on recreational fishing.
• ASA Member Companies Attending
NFBW
• Capitol Hill Reception Sponsors
• Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation
National Fishing and Boating Week 2006 is scheduled for June 3–10.
For more information or to comment, please contact Policy Fellow Patrick
O’Rouke, 703.519.9691 x230.
