Chris Horton, Midwestern States Director for the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF), was recently appointed to serve a two-year term on the Recreational Fisheries Working Group of the Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee (MAFAC). MAFAC was established in 1971 to advise the Secretary of Commerce on living marine resource matters and ensure policies meet the needs of recreational and commercial fishermen, as well as environmental, tribal, academic, consumer and other national interests. In 2010, MAFAC established the Working Group to support its work on issues important to the recreational fishing community.
“The establishment of the Recreational Fisheries Working Group was a significant step forward by MAFAC and NOAA in ensuring recreational anglers are at the table when marine fisheries issues are being discussed. I look forward to the opportunity to serve on the Working Group as we endeavor to keep recreational fishing, as an integral part of resource conservation, within marine fisheries policy decisions,” said Horton.
With Horton’s appointment to the MAFAC Recreational Fisheries Working Group, CSF now represents the interests of sportsmen and women on four federal advisory councils or groups, including the Sport Fish and Boating Partnership Council, Wildlife and Hunting Heritage Conservation Council and Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee.
Studies conducted at both the state and federal level have found that the number of hunters and trappers have been on a generally declining trend over the past several decades. To increase recruitment, retention, and reactivation (R3) of hunters and trappers, which initiative do you think would have the greatest impact?
