CSF Board Member Testifies Before House Subcommittee to Explore NOAA Fishery Science Costing Jobs

July 26, 2011 (Washington, DC) - Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) Board Member and President of the Center for Coastal Conservation (CCC), Jefferson Angers, testified (VIEW) today on behalf of recreational anglers before the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans, and Insular Affairs.

Angers, representing the CCC, American Sportfishing Association, Coastal Conservation Association, CSF, International Game Fish Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association and the Billfish Foundation, highlighted the economic and conservation contributions of recreational fishing and how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) utilizes outdated or inaccurate fisheries science data when setting annual catch limits that can close recreational fisheries, closings that negatively impact coastal communities.

The hearing was intended to highlight how NOAA's use of outdated or inaccurate science can lead to lower catch levels and fewer jobs as the agency manages the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) as amended in 2006, requiring Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. The requirements were intended to end overfishing by 2011 but were predicated on two critical assumptions: NOAA Fisheries would make decisions based on up-to-date and accurate stock assessments; and the agency would improve catch data to better anticipate potential problems in a given fishery. Neither of these obligations has been met.

“Today’s hearing is a wakeup call,” said Angers. “The millions of Americans who responsibly utilize the nation’s public fishery resources and depend on them for jobs and recreation know that without Congressional action, arbitrary decisions affecting millions of anglers and thousands of businesses will continue to be made.”

The groups represented by Angers today, have been working to support legislation recently introduced by Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) Member Rep. Rob Wittman, seeking to ensure that the NOAA Marine Fisheries Service is required to set catch limits based on sound science. The bi-partisan legislation, known as the Fishery Science Improvement Act (FSIA) or H.R. 2304, is supported by the CSC – the largest bi-partisan, bi-cameral caucus in the U.S. Congress.

NOAA Fisheries is preparing to set annual catch limits for some 528 stocks of fish to meet the deadline of December 31, 2011 as set by the 2006 MSA reauthorization. FSIA would extend the 2011 deadline to 2014 for stocks of fish that are not overfished and allows the agency to implement the Act.

“Closings of coastal fisheries would have a major negative impact on the nation’s 13 million saltwater anglers and the tens of thousands of businesses and employees who depend on marine recreational fishing and we don’t believe these decisions should be made based on a lack of science,” said CSF President Jeff Crane.

“The people collecting the data and tracking fish populations need to develop relationships with the boat captains and others who are out there every day and whose lives are dependent on fishing and the resource, before closing fishing in the South Atlantic,” said CSC and Subcommittee Member, Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina.