April 8, 2024 — Governing bodies across the East Coast are rolling out this year’s limits on recreational saltwater fishing.
Why it matters: Some of those regulations are quite restrictive, and based partly on federal data that everyone knows is wrong.
- Recreational fishing is no small business, generating over $100 billion annually in sales impacts and supporting nearly 640,000 jobs.
The big picture: Every year, assessments are made on the health of species, namely around how abundant a specific type of fish is, and how popular it is to catch.
- When done right, the assessments are vital to preserving the country’s fish stocks.
- The goal is to prevent anglers from overfishing a species. They should exist in enough numbers to naturally sustain, if not grow, their natural population.
- That job has fallen to NOAA, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, since at least 1979.