The Obama administration is launching a significant new effort to reach out to marine recreational fishermen, an economically and politically powerful group that has previously felt shut out by the new administration.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the main federal agency overseeing ocean and fisheries policy, has rolled out a series of new initiatives in the past month aimed at raising the profile of recreational fishing within the agency and calming some of the hostile waters between fishermen and the administration.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco created a new post for a high-level national policy adviser for recreational fishing, reorganized regional offices to put greater emphasis on sportfishing and created a new advisory panel on the issue.
And in its most visible move, the administration is hosting hundreds of fishermen this weekend in Alexandria, Va., for a national summit on recreational saltwater fishing.
The efforts are an attempt to reach out to a vast group of more than 15 million saltwater recreational fishermen who pump more than $31 billion into the economy each year and who could pose significant challenges as NOAA attempts to rebuild depleted fish stocks.
It is also an attempt to step in the midst of what fishermen are calling a "crisis" moment for their industry and improve dialogue that has lately become "fairly strained" between fishermen and the administration, fueled in large part by the potential for strict new catch limits, according to Russell Dunn, NOAA's new national policy adviser for recreational fisheries.
"There is increased tension and concern as they look forward and say, 'How are we going to resolve this?' Dunn said. "So it's just been more strained."
Dunn and other leaders at the National Marine Fisheries Service say they want to use this weekend's meeting to hear the concerns of recreational fishermen and begin to draft an action plan for the future that can balance the desire to uphold fishing businesses and fishermen's way of life, while still conserving fish stocks.
"We want to create a more trusting atmosphere between us and the recreational community, so they can see that we are responsive," Dunn said. "And so they can understand that while we are responsive to their concerns, we also have stewardship responsibilities to the resource."
A community 'lit on fire'
Many fishermen are reeling at the prospect of strict closures that could come into place in the next year, as NOAA races to implement a requirement to end overfishing that was included in a fishing law that Congress passed in 2006.
The biggest blow for sportfishers could come from limits to the red snapper and grouper fisheries in the Southeast -- overfished fisheries that are also major gamefish. Restrictions have the potential to strike an economic blow to coastal towns in places like Florida, the self-proclaimed "fishing capital of the world" and generator of more than half of all recreational fishing dollars in the United States.
The federal fishing council's current proposal would set the shortest season ever -- 54 days -- to limit the take of depleted red snapper stocks. Those limits might be workable for fishermen, but the council had also previously discussed closing areas to fishing for all 73 species that dwell on the bottom of the ocean, near snapper and grouper.
Recreational and commercial fishermen have already faced temporary closures of the grouper fisheries. The closures have incited anger in some fishermen because they are based on a survey of fish stocks they say is outdated, as fishermen report they are seeing more fish than ever before in the water.
"The red snapper has really lit the recreational community on fire," said George Cooper, who works as a consultant for recreational fishing groups in Washington, D.C. "Any time you have a divide between what fishermen are experiencing on the water and what is being used for decisions like total closures, these guys get very upset."
The tension among recreational fishers burst to the surface last month after an ESPN.com columnist suggested that the administration's ocean policy could shut down sportfishing. ESPN later amended and corrected the piece but not before it ignited a game of "telephone" played at the breakneck speed of the digital age.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the main federal agency overseeing ocean and fisheries policy, has rolled out a series of new initiatives in the past month aimed at raising the profile of recreational fishing within the agency and calming some of the hostile waters between fishermen and the administration.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco created a new post for a high-level national policy adviser for recreational fishing, reorganized regional offices to put greater emphasis on sportfishing and created a new advisory panel on the issue.
And in its most visible move, the administration is hosting hundreds of fishermen this weekend in Alexandria, Va., for a national summit on recreational saltwater fishing.
The efforts are an attempt to reach out to a vast group of more than 15 million saltwater recreational fishermen who pump more than $31 billion into the economy each year and who could pose significant challenges as NOAA attempts to rebuild depleted fish stocks.
It is also an attempt to step in the midst of what fishermen are calling a "crisis" moment for their industry and improve dialogue that has lately become "fairly strained" between fishermen and the administration, fueled in large part by the potential for strict new catch limits, according to Russell Dunn, NOAA's new national policy adviser for recreational fisheries.
"There is increased tension and concern as they look forward and say, 'How are we going to resolve this?' Dunn said. "So it's just been more strained."
Dunn and other leaders at the National Marine Fisheries Service say they want to use this weekend's meeting to hear the concerns of recreational fishermen and begin to draft an action plan for the future that can balance the desire to uphold fishing businesses and fishermen's way of life, while still conserving fish stocks.
"We want to create a more trusting atmosphere between us and the recreational community, so they can see that we are responsive," Dunn said. "And so they can understand that while we are responsive to their concerns, we also have stewardship responsibilities to the resource."
A community 'lit on fire'
Many fishermen are reeling at the prospect of strict closures that could come into place in the next year, as NOAA races to implement a requirement to end overfishing that was included in a fishing law that Congress passed in 2006.
The biggest blow for sportfishers could come from limits to the red snapper and grouper fisheries in the Southeast -- overfished fisheries that are also major gamefish. Restrictions have the potential to strike an economic blow to coastal towns in places like Florida, the self-proclaimed "fishing capital of the world" and generator of more than half of all recreational fishing dollars in the United States.
The federal fishing council's current proposal would set the shortest season ever -- 54 days -- to limit the take of depleted red snapper stocks. Those limits might be workable for fishermen, but the council had also previously discussed closing areas to fishing for all 73 species that dwell on the bottom of the ocean, near snapper and grouper.
Recreational and commercial fishermen have already faced temporary closures of the grouper fisheries. The closures have incited anger in some fishermen because they are based on a survey of fish stocks they say is outdated, as fishermen report they are seeing more fish than ever before in the water.
"The red snapper has really lit the recreational community on fire," said George Cooper, who works as a consultant for recreational fishing groups in Washington, D.C. "Any time you have a divide between what fishermen are experiencing on the water and what is being used for decisions like total closures, these guys get very upset."
The tension among recreational fishers burst to the surface last month after an ESPN.com columnist suggested that the administration's ocean policy could shut down sportfishing. ESPN later amended and corrected the piece but not before it ignited a game of "telephone" played at the breakneck speed of the digital age.