A Successful 2022 for the Sportfishing Industry

A recent article recapping 2022 from the American Sportfishing Association.

“With the new Congress (finally!) underway and agencies, state legislatures and other sportfishing stakeholders returning from the holidays, all of us at the American Sportfishing Association (ASA) are excited to undertake the policies and issues that will advance the sportfishing industry, conserve public land and waters and ensure fish populations remain healthy in 2023.

Although we are already busy with our policy priorities for 2023, we are proud of our accomplishments from 2022. At both the national and state levels, we ensured that anglers could keep fishing and that fish populations continue to remain vital. Below is a list of some of our policy victories from 2022:

National Victories

• Secured and improved funding levels for a wide range of conservation programs, such as Outdoor Recreation Satellite Accounts and the National Fish Hatchery System in the Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22) appropriations package and end-of-year omnibus spending bill.
• Prohibited the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating the use of lead fishing tackle.
• Reauthorized the Coral Reef Conservation Program in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which will protect reef ecosystems.

Atlantic Victories

• Successfully worked with the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission on Amendment 7 to the Atlantic Striped Bass Interstate Fishery Management Plan, which rebuilds the fishery while ensuring that anglers have plenty of opportunities to fish.
• Collaborated with the Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council on new harvest control rules (HCR) for recreational fishery management and ensured the HCR will be used for 2023 specifications.
• Worked with like-minded organizations and industry leaders to generate awareness of, and opposition to, NOAA Fisheries’ proposed speed vessel rule, which requires all boats 35 feet and longer off most of the Atlantic coast to limit speeds to 10 knots.”
  

The full article can be found here.

Photo Credit: Original Author

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