FEATURE | THE MODERN FISH ACT
THE MODERN FISH ACT:
Know the Facts The Modern Fish Act, currently awaiting fl oor action in the US Senate, addresses the serious
challenges facing America’s recreational anglers. This is what this landmark, sportfishing-focused
legislation means for America’s 11 million saltwater anglers and the 440,000 dependent jobs.
Jeff Angers is the
president of the Centre
of Sportfi shing Policy
whose mission is to
maximize opportunity
for saltwater recreational
anglers by organizing,
focusing and engaging
recreational fi shing
stakeholders to speak
with one voice to shape
federal marine fi sheries
management policy. Here,
Jef highlights some key facts
about the current standing
of the Modern Fish Act.
The Modern Fish Act will
not exempt the recreational
sector from annual catch
limits or accountability
measures, instead it would
simply allow for more
appropriate recreational
fi sheries management
measures when current
implementation of the
annual catch limit (ACL)
requirement of the
Magnuson-Stevens Act is not
effective.
It does not exempt
recreational fi shermen from
adhering to annual harvest
constraints. For decades,
the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) Fisheries has tried
to use tonnage-based ACLs
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to manage the recreational
fi shing sector in real time.
This method, designed
for commercial fi shing,
fails to appropriately
manage America’s 11
million saltwater anglers,
particularly given the
limitations in the timeliness
and accuracy of recreational
fi shing data.
CURRENT ACTIVITY
Meanwhile, states are
successfully managing
recreational catches with
accountability measures
The Modern Fish Act would revise
allocation procedures making the process
more effi cient and less ambiguous
such as: extraction rates,
fi shing mortality targets
and harvest control
rules. Recreational and
commercial fi shing are
fundamentally different
activities that require
different management
approaches, and the Modern
Fish Act clarifi es this point.
The Modern Fish Act would
revise allocation procedures
making the process
more effi cient and less
ambiguous.
How public resources
are divided between user
groups matters to the
American people. The
current ambiguity around
how to divide the fi sheries
While some in the
environmental community
promote Limited Access
Privilege Programs such
as catch shares as a way
to improve access and
data collection, these
privatisation schemes really
achieve consolidation in
the number of participants
in a fi shery and, ultimately,
a negative impact on
conservation funding and
the US economy.
Instead, the federal
government should turn to
its state partners to better
manage recreational anglers
with scientifi c data and
collaboration in recreational
fi sheries management. The
fi rst summer of the 2018-
2019 Gulf of Mexico red
snapper Exempted Fishing
Permit has been one of the
most successful red snapper
seasons there in the last
decade, a success achieved
by the federal government
working closely with the
Gulf states and anglers to
fi nd the best management
approach.
The Gulf states were
able to offer their anglers
longer seasons with reliable
data collection systems.
None of the fi ve states
suggested privatising access
to fi sh stocks as a way to
improve access and data
collection. The collaborative
management approach
worked this summer in
the Gulf in helping resolve
confl icts in the alwayscontentious
red snapper
fi shery and so it can work
across the country.
Jeff Angers
pie has led to a confusing,
contentious and rusted-shut
system that has resulted
in the regional councils
generally refusing to review
allocations.
CLEAR OBJECTIVES
The Modern Fish Act would
establish clear, objective
criteria upon which
allocation decisions could be
based, and require periodic
review of allocations in
mixed-used fi sheries in the
South Atlantic and Gulf of
Mexico.
Doing so would not divert
signifi cant resources from
fi sheries management, as
opponents have falsely
asserted. Rather, this
provision would force these
regional councils to do what
they’re supposed to be doing
already, which is to allow
allocation review to refl ect
the ways in which fi sheries
change over time.
Assigning ownership of
public resources through
catch shares would result
in less access for America’s
anglers and reduce
conservation funding and
economic benefi ts to the
nation. The Modern Fish Act
offers a better way.
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