NMMA calls for help on proposed fishing restrictions
WASHINGTON – The National Marine Manufacturers Association has issued an Action Alert message to the marine industry in response to what it says are efforts by anti-recreational fishing special interest groups to pressure the Bush Administration to ban recreational angling in vast areas of the Central Pacific Ocean.
This lobbying is contrary to an Aug. 25 Presidential Memo, and a Sept. 26 Presidential Executive Order, directing federal agencies to sustain recreational fishing in federal marine protected areas and all federal waters, and “is a dangerous precedent to set in any U.S waters, marine or fresh,” NMMA said in the Alert.
“Even though there is no evidence that regulated recreational fishing presents a threat to fish stocks or is harming the ecosystem in these areas, some environmental groups have mounted a major campaign to convince senior officials in the White House and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that recreational fishing should be banned in thousands of square miles in the Central Pacific,” NMMA wrote in the message. “These groups, right now, are flooding the White House with letters.”
NMMA is asking for help in reminding government officials about the importance of angling and boating access, and why it is improper to close huge areas of the ocean to recreational fishing when there is no scientific justification for doing so.
“As part of the recreational marine industry, or as recreational angler or boater, please help us bring balance to this process and ensure that the President’s advisors are hearing from all sides, not just those who want to shut down fishing access,” NMMA wrote in its message.
The White House is taking public comment until Oct. 26.
To make a comment or learn more, click here, or contact NMMA Legislative Director Mathew Dunn at mdunn@nmma.org.
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