American Sportfishing Association - FryingPanTower.Com

The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s trade association, uniting more than 650 members of the sportfishing and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups, and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic, and conservation values of sportfishing.

June 20, 2006�Alexandria, VA�Yesterday, the full Senate approved the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Reauthorization Act of 2006, which moved forward with strong bipartisan support. Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) successfully lead the effort to reauthorize the act which bears his name. The Magnuson-Stevens Act, to which it is commonly referred, is the most important law governing management of fish in federal marine waters. The new bill makes numerous changes to the Act, many of which directly address issues important to the future of recreational saltwater fishing.

The American Sportfishing Association (ASA) has been actively involved in bringing important sportfishing issues before Members of Congress in the crafting of the bill. The Senate bill includes important issues for recreational anglers and marine fisheries conservation including: improving the role of science in fisheries management; guidelines to regulate the establishment of no-fishing areas; evaluating the economic impacts of all sectors when making allocation decisions; improving recreational fishing data by establishing a national registry of recreational saltwater anglers; and reducing bycatch through the development of new technologies.

"We appreciate Senator Stevens' willingness to listen to the issues important to the sportfishing industry. We will continue to work with the Senate and the House as the bill moves forward to final passage," said Mike Nussman, ASA’s president and CEO. "The basic elements of both bills form a good basis to move regulation forward to improve fishery resources and recreational fishing opportunities."

A similar bill, sponsored by Representatives Richard Pombo (R-CA), Barney Frank (D-MA) and Don Young (R-AK), is now pending in the House of Representatives. Both bills seek to improve recreational catch data, an issue highlighted by the National Research Council's report, issued in March of this year, which harshly criticized the current system as inaccurate and not suitable for fisheries management. The House version of the bill is expected to come up for a full House vote before Congress's annual August recess. ASA will continue to work with the House to ensure that the system for collecting recreational fishing data is both fair and managed appropriately. ASA is concerned that provisions relating to catch limits could penalize recreational anglers unfairly if the data are not improved.

Saltwater anglers contribute over $31 billion annually to the United States economy. Many communities in coastal states depend on sportfishing to support their local economies. Commenting on the importance of good management to good fishing, Gordon Robertson, ASA's vice president stated, "Recreational anglers and the businesses that serve them depend on abundant, sustainable and accessible fisheries. We look forward to having a new Magnuson-Stevens Act that furthers the protection of our fishery resources."

The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s trade association, uniting more than 650 members of the sportfishing and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic, and conservation values of sportfishing.

March 31, 2006, Alexandria VA�The American Sportfishing Association supports the conclusions of the National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies of Science that the data used by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for fishery management decisions is "fatally flawed" and needs to be "completely redesigned."

During a March 29 meeting of state fisheries directors and the sportfishing community in Washington, D.C., the NRC, represented by a council member, made these remarks as part of its report to the group on the adequacy of NMFS’ recreational sportfishing data collection program. The NRC report was commissioned by NMFS and was conducted over the course of the past year.

For years, the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) has voiced its concerns about the recreational data used to regulate saltwater sportfishing. In many cases, closures and other restrictions have been imposed based on this data.

Recreational anglers have long been aware of the importance of conservation to keep fisheries healthy. In testimony to the NRC panel last year, ASA President and CEO Mike Nussman noted the sportfishing community’s commitment to fishery resources citing the approximately one billion in license fees and excise taxes that go directly to fishery management and conservation each year.

However, fishery management decisions can have severe economic consequences. Last fall, NMFS attempted to close the entire recreational grouper season in the Gulf of Mexico. Currently, NMFS has recommended closing the West Coast ocean salmon season for the remainder of 2006 for all of California and part of Oregon.

The 13 million saltwater anglers in the United States contribute over $31 billion annually to the nation’s economy. Many communities in coastal states depend on sportfishing to support their local economies, and are the hardest hit by management decisions. Commenting on the importance of good data in making good management decisions, ASA VP Gordon Robertson stated, "fishery management decisions can have significant economic and resource impacts. They absolutely must be based on reliable data. If they are not, the public will have little confidence in those decisions." Robertson added, "for some sportfishing businesses, flawed data leading to flawed fishery management decisions can spell the end of their charter or tackle business. Not only does this trifle with a public trust resource but with an individual’s livelihood."

ASA supports recent efforts by Congress to improve recreational data. Currently, Congress is considering reauthorization of the Magnuson-Stevens Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, the principal federal law governing marine fisheries. Two of the proposed bills have provisions for improving recreational data collection. Nussman further said, "we are pleased that the authors of the Senate and House bills, Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Pombo respectively, have recognized the need for better sportfishing data, and look forward to working with them to find the most effective way to address this problem."

The American Sportfishing Association is the sportfishing industry’s trade association, uniting more than 650 members of the sportfishing and boating industries with state fish and wildlife agencies, federal land and water management agencies, conservation organizations, angler advocacy groups and outdoor journalists. The American Sportfishing Association safeguards and promotes the enduring social, economic and conservation values of sportfishing.