NOAA reaches out to recreational fishermen

[OceanViewKid]

Perhaps that demonstration in Washington got someone's attention.

http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2010/04/16/16greenwire-obama-admin-looks-to-cast-a-line-with-anglers-95055.html

Seems like several steps in the right direction.

[paxfish]

Suffice to say, that independent of the effect of that demonstration, that there have been some very pitched discussions at very high levels on this topic.

[B-Faithful]

Hopefully they will listen to recreational anglers concerns over "catch shares"... http://www.joinrfa.org/press/CatchSharesRFA2009.pdf

[ed robinson]

Here's a summary from Brad Burns of Stripers Forever:
What is my take on the whole thing? The accomplishments of something like NMFS are entirely dependant on the capabilities and commitment level of the people in charge. Many past NMFS officials have been recreational fishermen, but they have been overwhelmed by the commercial fishing culture of NMFS. I don’t know what will actually come of things, but Eric Schwabb is someone who came from state positions in MD. On the freshwater side he was credited with bringing some excellent trout fisheries to western MD, and on the saltwater side he was famous for battling with Pete Jensen, the notorious buddy of the MD Waterman’s Association. Eric is reported to be one of us in many of his views on fishery management. He said so in no uncertain terms at the summit. When he was in MD I spoke with him several times on behalf of SF and he was always interested and helpful. I could tell that he was in tune with recreational values.

The presentations, including one on the socio economics of recreational versus commercial saltwater fishing, hit the nail on the head as I have not seen these issues dealt with before. The speakers clearly laid out that:
• On fisheries shared by recreational and commercial interests the recreational interest was more financially valuable to society by a factor of several times.
• Recreational saltwater fishing for fun and/or food was a wholesome and important activity that must be preserved for current and future generations.
• That management goals of many species shared by recreational and commercial interests were totally incompatible, and that management on shared fisheries needed to change to make recreational fishing the priority because that was the most socio economically reasonable thing to do.
• That allocation percentages that lock recreational anglers into fixed shares of shared species had to change to allow for expanding recreational fishing participation.
• That most of these things are not happening because the culture with the fishery councils and commissions is commercial and they do not want to give up commercial rule of these fisheries, and that a way must be found around this. Eric Schwabb himself said this and said that “there were other ways”.

These are exactly the same things that I believe in, and it was almost a religious experience to hear so many people saying essentially these same things – top government officials included. It is far too early to forecast what actual initiatives will come from NMFS, or how successful these initiatives will be, but it sounds like a lot of people are at least on the same wave length. Certainly this will resonate down through the councils and the commissions like the ASMFC. For instance John O’Shea, executive director of the ASMFC was in attendance. He has been, in my view, quite soaked in the commercial brine, but he had to hear the things that were said. If NMFS officials start talking this talk and walking this walk it will have its effects.

Beyond this I talked with a couple of the top national lobbyists and trade association people. The idea of buying commercial quota share through various means is alive and well, and it may have the support of new faces in the legislature. This is currently a promising idea and not a certainty, but it sounds very positive.

[goose70]

Looks like things are moving in the right direction, but it pays to continue to be vigilant.