June 25, 2018 — The spirit of bipartisanship is alive and well on Capitol Hill – at least when it comes to federal marine fisheries management. The House leadership of the bipartisan Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus, which includes Reps. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Gene Green (D-Texas), Austin Scott (D-Ga.) and Marc Veasey (D-Texas), have come together in the interest of what is best for the American public in supporting Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) H.R. 200, the Strengthening Fishing Communities and Increasing Flexibility in Fisheries Management Act. For the first time since the Magnuson-Stevens Act (MSA) was passed in 1976, we are on the verge of truly recognizing the significance of recreational fishing in the nation’s principal fisheries law that will benefit 11-million saltwater anglers.
Among other things, H.R. 200 provides federal fisheries managers with the tools to effectively manage recreational fisheries, provides for better science to guide fisheries management decisions and further ensures our marine resources are managed for abundance, long-term sustainability and to the greatest benefit to the nation. H.R. 200 has been amended several times based on bipartisan feedback, as any good legislation should be, yet we still find ourselves up against the “never let the facts get in the way of a good story” scenario.
Specifically, I’m speaking to the fiction of the misinformed rhetoric that passing these bills will roll back the conservation gains made thus far under the current MSA, or somehow lead to less seafood on the menu at popular restaurants. Several chefs have repeated this mistruth in newspapers around the country in an unfounded fear that they will somehow lose their seafood supply. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, H.R. 200 would help ensure chefs in coastal communities throughout the country continue to have a strong customer base of recreational fishermen who travel to the coast, eat at restaurants, rent hotel rooms and buy supplies, all for the opportunity to catch a few fish.