Under Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Administrator, Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., met with sportfishing industry leaders during the American Sportfishing Association’s (ASA) 2009 Sportfishing Summit on October 27. ASA was encouraged by Lubchenco’s words and looks forward to working with her to ensure that recreational fishing’s voice is heard at NOAA.
"As NOAA’s Administrator I am committed to adopting policies that will ensure that current and future generations have the opportunity to enjoy this wonderful activity," Lubchenco said in her remarks. "We are responding to the concerns expressed by your leaders that we don’t pay enough attention to recreational fishing. I’m here to tell you that we do think you are important, that we will pay attention and that we will work with you. It is my intention to improve our relationship. I look forward to a new era of cooperative relations between NOAA and anglers across this country."
"We are encouraged by the remarks that Under Secretary Lubchenco gave at the 2009 Sportfishing Summit," ASA President and CEO Mike Nussman said. "Dr. Lubchenco told us that she will be our champion. We look forward to seeing actions come from those words and look forward to working with her and NOAA staff."
In September the Obama administration issued a draft policy, the Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force. ASA has significant concerns with the direction the Obama administration is going in managing the United States’ marine and freshwater public resources, choosing a tone of preservation over conservation. At the Summit, Lubchenco spoke about this concern.