Government Relations

Help Prevent Recreational Fishing Closures in the Pacific

Anti-recreational fishing groups seek to ban recreational fishing in pending Pacific Ocean marine protected area designations

The Problem. Contrary to an August 25, 2008, Presidential Memo and a September 26, 2008, Presidential Executive Order directing federal agencies to sustain recreational fishing in federal marine protected areas and all federal waters, anti-recreational fishing special interest groups are actively pressuring the Bush Administration to ban recreational angling in vast areas of the Central Pacific Ocean. This is a dangerous precedent to set in any U.S waters, marine or fresh.

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. These groups, right now, are flooding the White House with letters. ...