A recent national opinion piece has ignited a firestorm concerning the efforts of the Obama administration's Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force and its involvement in implementing a policy of "marine spatial planning" that could ultimately effect the management of and public access to the nation's natural public resources. The column comes three weeks after the closing of the public comment period by the Presidential task force and on the heels of the historic fishermen's rally at the Capitol on February 24th coordinated by the Recreational Fishing Alliance (The Recreational Fishing Alliance) and its allied groups.
Recent press releases issued by some sportfishing industry and angling
conservation groups have expressed dismay at the unwillingness of administrators to listen to their recommendations. None of this comes as a surprise to The Recreational Fishing Alliance. More troubling is that some of these same insiders have shown a willingness under past administrations to accept use of executive privilege in managing coastal access while fruitlessly participating in the new administration's new bureaucratic task force process.
"The goal of the key players in the process, specifically the Pew Environment Group and its minions, is to attempt to implement through Executive Order what they had failed to accomplish through the legislative process," said Jim Donofrio, The Recreational Fishing Alliance Executive Director. "We welcome those organizations who feel disenfranchised by the task force to join us in working to prevent what is the usurpation of the management of this nation's fisheries, oceans, coastal waters and the Great Lakes for ideological reasons," Donofrio said.