OCEAN CITY — Federal officials last week announced a new national recreational saltwater fishing policy.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries officials announced the new national policy was crafted with input from recreational fishing and boating communities, conservation organizations, and fishery managers across the nation. It reflects recreational anglers’ voices on a variety of existing and emerging concerns, including public access, resources stewardship, regulatory education, science innovation and better lines of communication between state and federal rule makers and the coastal fishing communities, including Ocean City.
Recreational fishing is big business and generates $58 billion in annual sales impacts nationally and supports 381,000 jobs, according to a 2012 NOAA report. The report indicates recreational boating is a $36.8 billion industry and creates nearly 339,000 marine industry jobs and supports roughly 35,000 businesses.
Closer to home, according to the same 2012 NOAA report, 2.3 million anglers took 14 million fishing trips in the mid-Atlantic region. Roughly 92 percent of those trips were taken in regional coastal communities, such as Ocean City, for example. With so much at stake, NOAA officials announced last week they had updated their national recreational saltwater fishing policy.
“With many of the nation’s fish populations recovering strongly, fuel prices dropping and the economy rebounding, we anticipate 2015 will be a busy and exciting year for recreational fishermen,” said NOAA Fisheries Administrator Eileen Sobek while announcing the new national policy at the Miami Boat Show last weekend. “With this policy in place, the stage is set for NOAA and the recreational fishing community to work more closely than ever before to address the priorities of anglers while working to ensure these resources are sustainable for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Among the highlights of the new policy’s goals are supporting and maintaining sustainable saltwater recreational fisheries resources including marine and estuarine habitats. The policy also hopes to promote saltwater recreational fishing for the social, cultural and economic benefit of the nation and enable enduring participation in and enjoyment of saltwater recreational fisheries through science-based conservation and management.
The plan is to implement the new policy within 60 days of the announcement last week.