CSP President in Sport Fishing Magazine: End Commercial-Fishing Bias in Fishery Management Councils
Last week, Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Sportfishing Policy (CSP), published an opinion piece in Sport Fishing Magazine calling for a consistent approach to establishing fishery management councils’ membership. Ensuring the recreational boating and fishing community is appropriately represented on fishery management councils is a top NMMA advocacy priority that the association works closely with CSP and coalition partners to secure.
“According to Angers’ piece, “Within the U.S. marine fisheries management system, no two regions are more different than the Gulf of Mexico and the North Pacific. There are obvious differences like climate and geography, but one of the starkest distinctions is our fisheries – not only what we catch, but how we catch … and how we manage.
“While commercial fishing is clearly the more dominant of the two sectors in Alaska, recreational fishing is undoubtedly the economic powerhouse in the Gulf of Mexico. So, why do we see such disparate treatment in the way each sector is represented on the Gulf and North Pacific fishery management councils?”