Freedom to fish

Support Freedom to Fish!

Recreational fishing is under fire! Fishery managers and politicians still fail to recognize its social and economic benefits to the nation. Radical environmental groups have taken aim at your access to fishing grounds. Dirty commercial gears continue to decimate habitat and fish stocks. But correcting these inequities is not insurmountable!

TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Click here for more information on Freedom to Fish Legislation.

For years, you and millions of recreational fishermen like you have done your part to rebuild America’s fisheries and conserve fish stocks. You've released more fish, accepted larger minimum sizes, shorter seasons and more restrictive bag limits. But in many cases it simply hasn't been enough to halt the decline of threatened fish stocks because recreational fishing wasn’t the problem in the first place!

We have consistently been under-represented in the regulatory process and received an unfair allocation of quotas as a result. And, if that wasn’t enough, we are now firmly in the sights of a consortium of radical environmental groups that want to close vast areas of the ocean under the guise of "marine protected areas" and further restrict recreational fishing access to fisheries we were instrumental in helping rebuild!

While we’ve conserved voluntarily and under tough state and federal regulations, fishery managers allow the continued use of commercial gears that simply aren’t compatible with sustainable fishing practices. Bottom trawls have been shown to damage important fish habitat and catch too many unwanted species as "bycatch" which are shoveled dead and dying back in the ocean. Commercial draggers are allowed to target wintering and spawning grounds where overfished species congregate. Pelagic longlines have a forty-year history of devastation through overfishing and a rate of bycatch of billfish, sharks, turtles, mammals and sea birds that should be unacceptable to any fishery manager or politician! Yet they continue to fish.

The only way to bring about meaningful change - to save the fish and save sportfishing - is for fishermen like you to get involved in the political process and fight back, but how? The Recreational Fishing Alliance is the way! It is the only full-time political action organization fighting the important battles in Washington, where policy is set and the laws governing fisheries are written. The RFA brings together a rapidly growing membership of grassroots fishermen like you with sponsor companies in the fishing tackle and marine industry to create a powerful lobbying entity capable of bringing about desperately needed, systemic change!

Don’t underestimate your ability to help or the importance of your participation in the RFA. Only with tens of thousands of active fishermen working together through the political process can we succeed. Together, we can make a difference!

UPDATE
June 16, 2003

RFA / TEXAS submitted our proposed "Freedom to Fish" legislation (see Press Release below) to State Senator Kenneth Armbrister, Chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, for introduction to the Texas 78th Legislature. Senator Armbrister felt that although he strongly supports this legislation, the current political climate was unfavorable for passage in this session. He promised to revisit this issue during the next Regular Legislative Session, and he wrote and sponsored S.C.R. 41, a Concurrent Resolution, directing the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and Texas Water Development Board to exclude consideration of recreational fishing restrictions in any study of Texas bays and estuaries.

RFA Launches Freedom to Fish Initiative in Coastal States

For immediate release:02/06/2003
Contact: Herb Moore Jr., Director of Government Affairs
609-294-3315

Recreational Fishing Alliance Launches Freedom to Fish Initiative in Coastal States

(New Gretna, NJ)- Today, the Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) announces a national initiative to introduce "Freedom to Fish" legislation in coastal states. This initiative is in response to the radical environmental movement to close off vast areas of our oceans by creating no fishing marine protected areas (MPAs). In the first phase of this effort, RFA and affiliates will be introducing "Freedom to Fish" bills in California, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

"Anglers were among the first conservationists," said Jim Donofrio, RFA Executive Director. "Recreational fishing remains one of the most popular outdoor sporting activities in the United States yet as we’ve seen in California, we’re now being targeted by these radical environmental organizations. It’s time for everyone to focus on specific gear that’s causing specific problems."

Recreational fishermen have long demonstrated a commitment to conservation through abidance with minimum size requirements, bag limits, seasonal closures, and the use of non-lethal rod and reel fishing gear. Rod and reel fishing is a highly selective, inherently inefficient method of catching fish that traditionally has not led to overfishing.

The RFA state Freedom to Fish bills prohibit closures to rod and reel fishing unless there is a clear indication that it is the cause of a specific conservation problem. This legislation would also establish requirements for closures including periodic review, scientifically based size restrictions for any closure, and provisions to reopen areas to rod and reel fishing whenever the basis for the closure no longer exists.

"Freedom to Fish legislation isn’t about banning MPAs. It’s about safeguarding public access to our public resources," said Herb Moore, Jr., RFA Director of Government Affairs.

"Anglers, boat builders, retailers, party and charter boat businesses, marinas and many others depend on access to healthy, well-managed fisheries," said Michael Doebley, RFA Deputy Director of Government Affairs. "The RFA state Freedom to Fish bills require specific conservation problems to be identified, and specific measures to be taken to address the problems, rather than having arbitrary closures based on emotion and anti-fishing agendas."

The Recreational Fishing Alliance (RFA) is a national, grassroots political action organization representing individual sport fishermen and the sport fishing industry. The RFA Mission is to safeguard the rights of saltwater anglers, protect marine, boat and tackle industry jobs and ensure the long-term sustainability of U.S. saltwater fisheries. For more information, call 1-888-JOIN-RFA.

Click Here to Join RFA / TEXAS

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