November 2, 2011 (Washington, DC) – The National Park Service (NPS) has released a draft General Management Plan (GMP) to shut down recreational angling and boating in the nation’s largest marine park.

NPS officials at Biscayne National Park (BNP) announced in August that they will propose large marine reserves that would close over 20 percent of the park's public waters to recreational fishing and other activities, despite opposition from the sportfishing industry and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). The BNP, located near Miami, Fla., is the largest marine park in the National Park system and one of the country's largest urban recreational fishing areas with nearly 10 million fishing trips are taken in the area every year. 

The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) and the National Assembly of Sportsmen’s Caucuses, along with the American Sportfishing Association, B.A.S.S., Center for Coastal Conservation, Coastal Conservation Association, International Game Fish Association, National Marine Manufacturers Association, and The Billfish Foundation, submitted formal comments on the draft GMP for Biscayne National Park in advance of the October 31 deadline for public input.

“CSF and our boating and sportfishing partners represent millions of recreational boaters and anglers throughout the country who collectively contribute over $200 billion to our economy, and this proposed plan could devastate fishing dependent businesses in South Florida,” said CSF President Jeff Crane. “All of us support healthy fisheries, what we are opposed to is unnecessary fishing closures with no scientific backing.”

The GMP results in a long list of closures for reasons other than those purported, including fisheries management, that essentially close off some of the best fishing areas. The ongoing development of a Fisheries Management Plan sets up a partnership with the FWC to manage BNP fisheries and through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the FWC states that marine reserves are overly restrictive and that less-restrictive management measures should be implemented in the park. 

The fishing community trusts the FWC to effectively manage fisheries throughout Florida as they are recognized as one of the preeminent state fisheries management agencies in the country. The group letter recommends to the NPS that the GMP be modified to re-emphasize that FWC will partner in decision making that results in either direct or indirect impact to the recreational fishing community and that decisions be science-based rather than simply assumptive.