Hooked on Florida fishing? End outdated federal rules
Florida is known as the fishing capital of the world for good reason. An international destination, Florida boasts more anglers from home and abroad than any other state — 3 million total, with 2.5 million dedicated to saltwater fishing.
But Florida’s recreational fishing industry has to push back on arcane federal regulations that slow growth and create confusion, including catch limits, absurdly short seasons and an unintuitive data-collection system.
The source of these regulations is the Magnuson-Stevens Act. The well-intentioned act is responsible for the recovery of species previously at risk of over-fishing, but much has changed since its initial passage in 1976. As a result, Magnuson-Stevens desperately needs to be modernized to conserve and manage our federal fishery resources with their long-term health in mind. It is critical that efforts to modernize this law acknowledge one major flaw in Magnuson-Stevens: It does not adequately distinguish between commercial and recreational fishing.
Currently, Magnuson-Stevens fails to recognize the importance of the multibillion-dollar recreational boating and fishing industries, which support more than 650,000 jobs across the United States. In Florida, the recreational boating industry supports more than 5,500 businesses and draws more than a million tourists to the state. In 2011 alone, these tourists spent almost $900 million. Fishing is the No. 1 activity done while boating, which is why it’s vitally important to local business owners such as myself.
Now, Magnuson-Stevens is in the process of being reauthorized, and something can finally be done to address its flaws. The Modernizing Recreational Fisheries Management Act of 2017, or Modern Fish Act, would recognize the importance of recreational fishing as a separate industry and institute smarter, more equitable regulations that reflect the industry’s size and importance. By allowing recreational anglers greater access to saltwater fisheries and modernizing the current data collection system, the Modern Fish Act would give the recreational fishing industry the room it needs to flourish, while preserving the strong conservation efforts that have been a hallmark of Magnuson-Stevens for decades.
With the Modern Fish Act, lawmakers don’t have to choose between the competing interests of fishing access and fish sustainability. Recreational anglers and conservationists agree on the importance of healthy fish populations — after all, without fish, there would be no recreational fishing. By instituting modern regulations, lawmakers will be able to ensure the health of both fish populations and the recreational fishing industry for generations to come, without undoing decades of conservation work achieved by the MagnusonStevens Act.
Thanks to the Modern Fish Act’s bipartisan support, all of us at Maverick Boat Group have faith that our leaders will get the bill through the Senate and passed into law. Our industry’s growth and the long-term stability of our valuable natural resources are depending on it.