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CSF and Fishing-Boating Partners Voice Recreational Angling Concerns To White House Task Force

WASHINGTON, DC - -(FishNLand.com)- The Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, along with its partners in the U.S. Recreational Fishing & Boating Coalition, submitted formal comments Friday to the White House Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, voicing the concerns of recreational boating and angling interests.

The “Interim Framework for Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning” is the second document released by the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force which was created by President Obama last June to develop a draft national policy and implementation strategy for conserving and managing the oceans, the Great Lakes, and the coasts of the United States.

In the first draft policy report, the “Interim Report of the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force”, released on September 17, the Task Force failed to include specific issues of concern to the recreational fishing and boating communities, in spite of a summer meeting with the Task Force and a written submission from the coalition.

The groups’ comments, submitted to Ms. Nancy Sutley, chair of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and the Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force, clearly define the importance of recreational angling and boating to the national economy and our nation’s social fabric.

“Some of the potential policy implications of the this Interim Framework have the potential to be a real threat to recreational anglers who not only contribute billions of dollars to the economy and millions of dollars in tax revenues to support fisheries conservation, but who are also the backbone of the American fish and wildlife conservation ethos,” said CSF President Jeff Crane.

Among numerous other concerns is the development a top-down federal approach to ocean management that would impact every sector and every ocean activity. This new structure is built on vague or unspecified statutory authority, without input from Congress, and does not appropriately recognize the role of the states, which have the primary jurisdiction for resident fish and wildlife.

Given the scope of economic, conservation, and social contributions of recreational fishing and boating, it is imperative that any national ocean policy encourage, promote and celebrate recreational activities in the marine and freshwater environments. This can only be achieved if the policy and the implementation of marine spatial planning provide for access to marine areas for recreation and the opportunities for angling.

“There are over 1 million jobs in America supported coast to coast by recreational fishing. The Task Force has not included any accountability requirements in their reports for evaluating or mitigating how the new policies they are drafting will impact the fishing industry or related economies,” said Phil Morlock, CSF Board Member and Director of Environmental Affairs for Shimano. “Given that the scope of this process appears to include a new set of policies for all the coastal and inland waters of the United States, the omission of economic considerations is inexcusable.”

Congressional Sportsmen’s Caucus (CSC) member Rep. Adam Putnam and CSC House Co-Chair Rep. Dan Boren sent a letter to Ms. Sutley in November, urging inclusion of the recreational fishing community in the formation of a proposed new ocean governance structure.

“Inclusion of the recreational fishing community in this effort could greatly assist the task force’s stated objectives,” said Rep. Boren. “They should welcome the participation of recreational anglers and seek their support in ensuring the conservation, maintenance, and restoration of our nation’s oceans and lakes.”

About:
We can have the best wildlife habitat imaginable and a record number of people who buy fishing and hunting licenses, but it won’t matter if misguided laws and regulations are made at the federal and state levels that negatively impact our outdoor traditions. Keeping sportsmen’s issues front and center is what the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation does. Day in and day out, our sole focus is on providing a voice for sportsmen in the political arena. Serving as the first line of defense in protecting America’s outdoor traditions as well as promoting the sportsmen’s agenda through the collective muscle of sportsmen’s caucuses.

Filed under: Conservation News, Politics of Fishing by admin No Comments »

California Bill Banning Recreational Suction Dredge Mining Passes Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee with 11-0 Vote
Senator Wiggins’ SB 670 Would Place Moratorium On Suction Dredging Until Scientific Review and New Protections Are In Effect

Sacramento, CA -(FishNLand.com)– After a 31-8 bipartisan passage in the California Senate in late May, SB 670 today cleared the Assembly’s Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee on a unanimous and bipartisan 11-0 vote. The bill places a moratorium on suction dredge mining in California’s rivers until a scientific review of the mining practice is completed and new rules protecting fisheries, water quality, and public health are in effect.

SB 670 contains an urgency clause that allows it to go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signing. It will go next to the Appropriations Committee then on to a full vote in the Assembly soon. Dozens of Tribes, conservation organizations, and commercial fishermen support the bill.

California’s taxpayers heavily subsidize the state’s suction dredge permit program through the California Department of Fish and Game. The state spends $1.25 million more per year on the permit program than it receives in permit fees, amounting to a $400 subsidy for each of the 3,200 miners that obtain permits.

Scott Harding, Executive Director of Klamath Riverkeeper said, “It is heartening to see such strong support for SB 670 in both the Senate and Assembly. This bill helps address the dramatic decline of California’s fisheries and promotes equality by no longer allowing a small group of hobby miners to harm the state’s important commercial fisheries and tourism economies that rely on clean, healthy rivers.”

Suction dredge mining takes place directly in river and stream channels using a floating, gas-powered vacuum coupled to a sluice box. The miner, sometimes with the aid of SCUBA gear, vacuums sediment, gravel, and small rocks from the river bottom. This material is then run through a mechanized sluice on the floating platform. Gold flakes are separated from the sediment, which is spit back into the river in long, murky plumes.

Suction dredging represents a chronic and unnatural disturbance to the river and is known to harm fisheries, aquatic habitat, and degrade water quality. It can stir up leftover mercury pollution from historical mining activity and reintroduce it into the food chain, creating a public health problem. Depending on size, location and density of these machines they can turn a clear running mountain stream into a murky watercourse unfit for swimming and destroy salmon spawning habitat.

Recreational mining businesses and prospecting clubs, such as the New 49’ers in Happy Camp, CA, bring hundreds of suction dredgers to the Klamath and its tributaries each year. California’s regulations of the mining practice are more lax than in other states, making it a popular destination for hobby miners. At times, ten or more suction dredges can be found in one river mile on the Klamath and several hundred dredges are estimated to be operating within the watershed at one time.

Klamath Riverkeeper has supported SB 670 and is also a co-plaintiff in a pending lawsuit against California Department of Fish and Game over their suction dredge mining program. “We have multiple avenues to seek a ban on this harmful mining practice until it can be scientifically evaluated and properly regulated. Today’s committee passage of SB 670 is the another step toward a legislative solution to this critical issue,” says Harding.

About:
Klamath Riverkeeper is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to restoring the Klamath River and its tributaries, fisheries, and communities. Klamath Riverkeeper has offices in Orleans, California and Ashland, Oregon. For more information please visit www.klamathriver.org. For photos of suction dredging on the Klamath, please email scott@klamathriver.org .

Filed under: Conservation News, Politics of Fishing by FishNLand 1 Comment »

Florida Shoreline Anglers Need To Buy License By Aug. 1

Tallahassee, FL-(FishNLand.com)- Florida’s resident saltwater anglers who fish from shore or a structure affixed to shore will need to buy a $7.50 (plus administrative and handling fees) shoreline fishing license by Aug. 1, unless they have a regular resident saltwater fishing license.

The new license applies only to Florida resident saltwater anglers who fish from shore. Resident anglers may prefer to purchase the regular recreational saltwater license that covers them, no matter where they fish for saltwater species in Florida.

Florida has always required nonresidents to have a license when fishing from shore, and they will still need to purchase a regular nonresident saltwater fishing license.

The new shoreline saltwater fishing license for residents goes on sale July 15. It provides all of the same exemptions as a regular license, including senior citizens, children, disabled people who meet certain qualifications, active-duty military personnel while home on leave, and anglers who fish from a licensed pier.

In addition, the shoreline license requirement includes two new exemptions:

* anglers drawing food stamps, temporary cash assistance or Medicaid; and
* anglers fishing in their home counties who use cane poles or other gear that does not depend on mechanical retrieval.

At the request of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), the Florida Legislature passed the new license requirement to head off a federal license requirement that will go into effect Jan. 1, 2010, and will have a $15-$25 fee beginning in 2011. Florida’s new shoreline license exempts this state’s anglers from the federal license requirement.

Several hunting, fishing and conservation organizations requested other permit fee changes, which do not take effect until July 2010. They include increases in:

* the state waterfowl stamp, from the current $3 to $5;
* in the resident turkey permit, from $5 to $10;
* the nonresident turkey permit, from $100 to $125;
* the wildlife management area permit for hunting, fishing and other recreational uses, from $25 to $30;
* the limited-entry or special-opportunity hunt fee, from $100 per day to $150 per day and $250 per week to $300 per week, as determined by FWC Commissioners;
* the snook permit, from $2 to $10; and
* the lobster permit, from $2 to $5.

Also, new laws create a $5 annual deer permit (in addition to the current hunting license requirement for deer hunters) and allow the agency to charge up to $5 per day for non-hunting and non-fishing recreation on certain wildlife management areas.

The FWC will evaluate areas where it is the lead manager to determine where to charge the fees and how much to charge. In addition, the state will use up to 10 percent of the hunting and sport-fishing fees to promote those sports, with emphasis on youth participation.

For more information about outdoor recreation and FWC programs, go to MyFWC.com.

Filed under: Conservation News, Politics of Fishing by FishNLand 1 Comment »