On January 16, a group of organizations representing the recreational angling community sent a letter to U.S. House of Representatives leadership Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi urging them to bring H.R. 200, Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act, to the House floor for a vote.
Sponsored by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Member Congressman Don Young (AK), the provisions of the bipartisan Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017 (H.R. 2023) were added to H.R. 200 before being discharged from the House Natural Resources Committee on December 13, 2017. This bill would make critical changes to the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to better manage the recreational sector in a way that is more appropriate and effective based on available data. Specifically, H.R. 200 would: allow recreational fisheries to be managed using more appropriate management tools; require managers in the southern region to perform overdue examinations of fishery allocations; and promote new data collection methods that could improve fishery management and conservation.
The letter stated, “America’s 11 million saltwater anglers contribute more than $63 billion to the U.S. economy each year and generate nearly 440,000 jobs, including thousands of manufacturing and supply jobs in non-coastal states. By modernizing saltwater recreational fisheries management, the Magnuson-Stevens Act can achieve a better balance for the needs of anglers and the recreational fishing industry, restore public trust in federal fisheries management and continue to ensure the conservation of our marine fisheries resources.”
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?
