The Freedom to Go Fishing

The recreational fishing sector has proposed a federal legislative Bill called The Freedom to Fish Act. This is an effort by sport fishermen nationwide to protect this extremely large fishing sector from being closed out of any Marine Protected Area (MPA) that may be established.  In New England, the Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary has been identified as one possible location where an MPA could fit.  The Bill has the support of many Federal Senators and Congressmen.

A New Hampshire fishing alliance made up of recreational and commercial fishermen had proposed to ask their federal legislators to insert the words “and commercial” into the Bill.  This certainly would be helpful down the road if the commercial fishing sector comes under attack by “no take” activists who would like to have MPA’s include areas where no commercial fishing would be allowed.

Unfortunately some recreational fishermen have now opposed the inclusion of this wording into “their Bill”.  It is a shame that we fishermen, both recreational and commercial, can’t come together on this and protect our right to fish for enjoyment or also to earn a living and provide food for those who don’t fish.  We are all fishermen here and we are all threatened by those zealots who once again want to save everything in and out of sight.  Our “friends”(?) at the Conservation Law Foundation are again among those pushing for no take zones here in New England.

It is equally unfortunate that we can’t work together because this legislation would have a better chance of making it through the federal legislative quagmire in Washington if we could all present our legislators with a unified position supporting this proposal.  As usual, there is no guarantee that this Bill will make it through this session of Congress.  It might even be safe to say that it is doubtful it will given the other pressing matters in D.C. and the election and holiday adjournment schedules.  This, however, shouldn’t be a serious setback because with enough support, the Bill could still be resurrected and passed in the next session of Congress beginning in January.  This would still allow ample time to head off any possible proposals that could hurt fishermen here in New England.

We would urge our Congressional Delegation to try and insert the “commercial fishing” wording into this Bill as it goes through the legislative process and perhaps the Bill could even be held up until the wording is inserted.  We believe that if the legislation is amended in this way, the commercial sector could sign on to such a Bill and together we could amass even more political muscle to get this measure, which is wanted and needed by the recreational fishing sector, through the very difficult federal legislative gauntlet.

We should all have the right to pursue our own way of happiness in the world of fishing!

Bill Adler

Executive Director

11/02