the bill, critical statutory definitions were never addressed. On
February 24, this year, 5,000 American commercial and recreational fishermen rallied in Washington, D.C., for Magnuson reform.
Congress has an obligation to these fishermen and it’s NOAA’s
responsibility to let Congress know what’s wrong with the current
system, and what can be done to fix it.
NOAA has always had some discretion when managing fisheries, but instead they stubbornly defend their territory, protecting
stock assumptions, while disregarding experiential evidence that
might call their bureaucracy into question. This scientific arm of
the government hides behind the presumption of validity, blanketing obligations in a cloak of immunity provided by an onerous law.
Summit meetings, letters, task forces, and vision quests won’t fix
these issues. It’s time for debate to be carried back to Congress. If
hard-line conservation groups are sincere in their wishes to protect
both fish and fishermen, they’ll welcome this open debate.
BREAKING NEWS
Anglers Speak, NOAA Fisheries Listens
In a dramatic move designed to open the doors of co-opera-
tion between both sides in this debate, NOAA Administrator Dr.
Jane Lubchenco and the new head of the Fisheries Service, Eric
Schwaab, invited more than 100 recreational fishing constituents
to Alexandria, Virginia, on April 16 -17 at what they called a Rec-
reational Saltwater Fishing Summit. The first time a gathering of
this scope has been held in a decade, the summit is the latest in
a string of actions taken by the government to meet Lubchenco’s
commitments to better engage with recreational fishing. Two full
days of airing anglers’ issues was intended to strengthen the rela-
tionship between NOAA and the recreational community, includ-
ing angler organizations, the fishing-tackle and boat industries, as
well as charterboat operators and guides.
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