It’s Official: President Trump Signed the Modern Fish Act
On December 31, President Trump signed the Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2018 (Modern Fish Act) into law, delivering a major victory to NMMA and its coalition partners. Following the official signing, NMMA President, Thom Dammrich thanked advocates for their work to get the Modern Fish Act across the finish line in a Marine Minute video message, which is available here: https://vimeo.com/307528886.
In addition, Dammrich stated, “This is historic for the recreational boating and fishing community, capping years of hard work to responsibly modernize recreational saltwater fisheries management. The Modern Fish Act is a critical first-step solution towards establishing a framework for expanding access to recreational saltwater fishing, while ensuring conservation and sustainability remain top priorities in fisheries management. We thank President Trump and Congress for making the Modern Fish Act the law of the land and look forward to working with them in the coming years to advance policies that protect and promote recreational saltwater fishing.”
Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy, added, “Millions of American families take part in saltwater recreational fishing and boating activities and support multi-billion dollar industries that generate hundreds of thousands of jobs in our country. Today, we are thankful for this important milestone for federal fisheries management and marine conservation, and we look forward to continuing to improve public access to our nation’s healthy fisheries.”
The recreational fishing and boating community also thanked the sponsors of the Modern Fish Act – Senator Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Congressman Garret Graves (R-LA) – and key supporters of the bill – Senators Bill Nelson (D-FL), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Doug Jones (D-AL); and Congressmen Steve Scalise (R-LA), Rob Bishop (R-UT), Marc Veasey (D-TX), Rob Wittman (R-VA), Gene Green (D-TX), Daniel Webster (R-FL), and Austin Scott (R-GA) – who led the bipartisan effort in the 115th Congress to improve federal fisheries management for America’s 11 million saltwater anglers.
For more information, please contact NMMA senior vice president of government relations and legal affair, Nicole Vasilaros at [email protected].