Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures and Improve Marine Fish Management

Dave LeGear

Contributing Member
Lifetime Member
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City
What's left of Pine Island
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Florida
UPDATE: U.S. House and Senate Support Legislation to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures and Improve Marine Fish Management
The Fisheries Science Improvement Act will help ensure that science is the primary driver of federal fisheries management decisions
In June, KeepAmericaFishingâ„¢ asked anglers to support the Fishery Science Improvement Act, legislation introduced in the House of Representatives that will stop federal officials from arbitrarily setting restrictive catch limits on many important marine sportfish. Now that a companion bill has been introduced in the Senate, we need your help again to ensure passage of this important legislation before it's too late and unnecessary catch restrictions are put into place!

Send a message to your Members of Congress today asking them to support this common sense legislation that will help ensure a future for our marine resources and a future for recreational angling.

The Situation
As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires Regional Fishery Management Councils and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. The requirements were predicated on two critical assumptions:

  • [*=left]NOAA Fisheries would make decisions based on up-to-date and accurate stock assessments.

    [*=left]NOAA Fisheries would improve catch data to better anticipate potential problems in a given fishery.
Neither of these obligations has been met and the results will be overly restrictive regulations and closures for recreational fishing.
Guesswork has no place in the management of America's natural resources, and poorly-planned ACLs will have significant negative impacts on anglers and the businesses and communities dependent on our nation's fisheries.
The Fisheries Science Improvement Act, H.R. 2304 in the House and S. 1916 in the Senate, seeks to ensure that the NOAA Fisheries sets catch limits based on scientific data, not on guesswork, as is currently happening for many recreationally important species such as wahoo, cobia and mahi mahi. For more information, view the FSIA Fact Sheet.
[h=3]Take Action Now![/h]
Click here to send a message to your Members of Congress in support of the Fishery Science Improvement Act and help ensure a better future for our marine fisheries resources and a future for recreational angling.
 
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