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Federal fishery managers, who have already severely curtailed halibut regulations for guided recreational anglers in other parts of the Alaska, are now proposing a rule that will cut in half the daily recreational halibut fishing regulations in South Central Alaska. This reallocation will place even more of our nation's public resource into private commercial hands.

Federal fishery managers are touting this as a conservation measure. This is not true. The fish taken from the charter sector will be allocated directly to the commercial sector, which has a bycatch and discard rate greater than the total recreational allocation. In 2010 alone, commercial fishermen discarded over 11 million pounds of dead halibut – significantly more than the total charter catch that year. This yields no conservation benefit for the resource, only an economic benefit to the commercial sector.

The charter fishing sector currently has rights to a small percentage of the halibut harvest, allowing individual anglers on charter vessels to catch two fish per day. Even though the charter boats have consistently remained under their total allowable catch, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) is proposing to take 30 percent of the charter boat allocation in South Central Alaska and give it to the commercial sector. The resulting regulation changes will cut the daily bag limit for charter recreational fishing anglers to just one fish per day.

While this rule would allow charter businesses to "buy back" halibut, this will cost an estimated $150 per fish, with the profit going entirely to the commercial industry. If this rule goes into effect, it will significantly reduce demand for the charter fishing businesses and have severe economic impacts on Alaska's communities that rely on tourism, including Homer, Ninilchik, Seward and Valdez. NMFS has not provided an estimate of the economic damage this will cause, despite legal mandates to do so.

Act Now!

NMFS is currently accepting public comment and it is important that recreational anglers voice their opposition to this rule. Please take these two simple steps to help ensure that Alaska's halibut fishery is not unfairly turned over to private commercial fishing interests:

1. To formally submit your comments for consideration, please visit the federal government's rule-making website at http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=NOAA-NMFS-2011-0180-0001. A sample message may be copied and pasted from below.
2. Send a copy to your Members of Congress and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco.

Public comment on this proposal closes on September 21, so act now.

]]> MLPA, 2011-08-29T16:24:49+00:00 http://www.keepamericafishing.org/news/view/recreational_fishing_community_dealt_another_blow_from_faulty_federal_fishe http://www.keepamericafishing.org/news/view/recreational_fishing_community_dealt_another_blow_from_faulty_federal_fishe Recent actions by the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Councils highlight the need for a Congressional federal fisheries solution.

We know you see the world through a fisherman's eyes and want to protect our natural resources and right to fish.

Sound science, economic impacts and public rights are being ignored as policymakers attempt to restrict public access to our nation's public resources.

But KeepAmericaFishing™ is fighting back against efforts to take away more of our best fishing areas.

As a thank you for your support, you'll receive a $159 gift card for a pair of Costa sunglasses when you make a contribution of $150 or more to KeepAmericaFishing by August 31st.

Your gift today shows that you're a person of vision. By choosing your new Costa shades – our gift to you – you'll share that vision with others.

Inject some common sense into this national debate. Speak out against more closures when you send your gift of $50, $75, $100 or more today!

Fighting for Your Right to Fish!

Gordon Robertson
KeepAmericaFishing™

*Offer valid through August 31, 2011.

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Pliers, a scale with built-in tape measure, razor sharp line clippers and more...

They're all included in the Rapala Tool Kit – yours free when you support KeepAmericaFishing™.

Sound science, economic impacts and public rights are being ignored as policymakers attempt to restrict public access to our nation's public resources.

But when you speak out with your gift of $50 or more by August 31st, you'll prove there's a better way – and you'll receive your Rapala Tool Kit (valued at $30) absolutely free!

As anglers, we know that patience is a virtue. Hurried, rash decision-making puts your rights – and our fisheries – at risk.

Inject some common sense into this national debate and speak out against more closures by sending your gift of $50, $75, $100 or more now!

Fighting For Your Right to Fish!

Gordon Robertson
KeepAmericaFishing™

*Offer valid through August 31, 2011.

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The Situation

Marlin, sailfish and spearfish, collectively called billfish, are highly esteemed by recreational anglers who practice catch-and-release fishing for these iconic fish while generating substantial income to the economy. Unfortunately, as a result of commercial overfishing, primarily by foreign countries, stocks of these magnificent big ocean fish are greatly depleted in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

It is currently illegal to harvest or import Atlantic-caught billfish into the U.S., but fish caught in the Pacific Ocean flood into U.S. markets in substantial numbers, threatening the survival of these fisheries. The Billfish Conservation Act of 2011 (S. 1451 and H.R. 2706), introduced into Congress on July 29, would close U.S. commercial markets to Pacific billfish, preventing their harvest and importation.

It would have a negligible impact on the commercial fishing industry in the U.S., since billfish represent only 0.1 percent of all seafood sales and there are many sustainable alternatives. The subsequent increase in billfish abundance will add value to the recreational fishery, which annually generates billions of dollars to the economy and has a minimal impact on billfish populations.

In short, this important bipartisan legislation will help restore billfish populations and improve recreational fishing opportunities while concurrently creating jobs and other economic benefits.

Take Action

In order to ensure this important bill is passed, KeepAmericaFishing™ needs your help! Send a message to your Members of Congress today asking them to support the Billfish Conservation Act of 2011.

Thank you for taking the time to help conserve our nation's invaluable fisheries resources for generations to come.

It's been over a year since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and while tremendous fishing opportunities abound in the Gulf of Mexico, the impacts of the spill are ongoing and can be seen in degraded habitats and reduced tourism activity, especially recreational fishing. A coalition of Senators from Gulf states recently introduced the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act of 2011 (S. 1400), which will provide much needed money to the region to restore the Gulf Coast environment and economy and help bring anglers back to the region.

This bill directs critical funding to the Gulf of Mexico region to help revitalize coastal communities and improve fisheries habitat and data collection. Specific things that this bill seeks to accomplish include:

• Allocating a portion of the funds equally to the five Gulf Coast states for ecological and economic recovery;
• Establishing the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council to develop and fund a comprehensive plan for the ecological recovery and resiliency of the Gulf Coast; and
• Establishing an endowment that includes funding for needed fisheries stock assessments and ecosystem monitoring.

It is important to note that this bill only directs funding from the Clean Water Act penalties charged to BP for the disaster and does not direct any new federal spending. To learn more about this valuable legislation, click here to view a fact sheet of the bill.

Take Action!
Take action today to make sure that the penalties from the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster are directed where they are most needed – the Gulf Coast environment and economy. Send a message to your Senators in support of the RESTORE the Gulf Coast Act of 2011 and do your part to help restore this sportfishing paradise.

Southern California Waters Remain Open to Recreational Fishing.

Sacramento, CA – July 8, 2011 –In June, the California Fish and Game Commission (FGC) voted to delay implementing regulations adopted last December for the South Coast Study Area under the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) until October 1, 2011. These new regulations, which would close much of southern California's best coastal waters to sportfishing, are not yet in effect. Misinformation – including statements by the Department of Fish and Game several months ago – has many anglers under the false impression that these waters are now and have been closed since early spring.

"Anglers need to understand that the 'marine protected areas' designated by the Commission last December are still open for fishing, and will be at least until October 1 of this year. And, the validity of these regulations is being challenged in court; that battle is far from over," said Mike Leonard, Ocean Resource Policy director for the American Sportfishing Association (ASA). "Much can happen between now and October 1. The Department should not have made statements that the areas are already closed. These statements are simply not true and are unfair to the millions of anglers who pay for California's fisheries management through license sales and the federal excise tax on fishing tackle and motorboat fuels."

The Department's Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet, posted March 1, 2011, erroneously states that the regulations went into effect in spring 2011. Prior to the vote, the department's website stated only that the regulations were expected to be effective mid-2011. In response to the general uncertainty within the sportfishing community regarding the South Coast MLPA regulations, the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PSO), which represents California's recreational fishing and boating community, sent a letter to the Department of Fish and Game. The PSO expressed its serious concerns about the misinformation provided to anglers about the effective date of the South Coast MLPA regulations. The errors have since been corrected.

"We've never seen a state so determined to destroy an activity that generates both income and jobs and as well as funding for fisheries conservation," Leonard further said.

"In talking with numerous anglers, I've noticed that there is considerable confusion about whether or not coastal waters are still open to recreational fishing," said Bob Fletcher, former president of the Sportfishing Association of California. "The state's miscommunications are causing anglers to unnecessarily stay off the water for fear that the regulations are already in place. On behalf of the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans, I'd like Southern California's anglers and the tens-of-thousands more who come to this region to fish each year to know they are still free to pursue our state's healthy marine fisheries."

Apart from controversies about their effective date, the MPA designations in the South Coast are currently being challenged in the courts. On January 27, 2011, United Anglers of Southern California, Coastside Fishing Club and Bob Fletcher filed a lawsuit in the San Diego County Superior Court seeking to set aside the MPA designations for the North Central and South Coast study regions. The lawsuit cites a lack of statutory authority for the Fish and Game Commission to adopt the regulations, and, in the case of the South Coast regulations, numerous violations of the California Environmental Quality Act in the Commission's environmental review of the regulations.

On May 31, the California's sportfishing community claimed its third legal victory in the legal effort against the MLPA Initiative when a San Diego Superior Court judge ordered that two environmental ocean closure advocate organizations had no legal right to intervene in the aforementioned lawsuit. Last year, Fletcher filed and won a suit against the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force and Master Plan Team for failing to provide documents related to their MLPA planning efforts. These groups incorrectly claimed that they were not required to make their records available to the public under the Public Records Act on the mistaken theory that they are not "state agencies."

Once these records were finally disclosed, numerous long-standing suspicions about the lack of openness and transparency within the MLPA process were confirmed, including that the Blue Ribbon Task Force met numerous times outside of the public view in scheduled private meetings. A California Superior Court ruling later ordered the Blue Ribbon Task Force and Master Plan Team to pay 100-percent of the legal fees incurred by members of the PSO in the Public Records Act case.

All anglers, and anyone who supports public access to public resources, are urged to help fight the flawed MLPA process in the courts by visiting www.OceanAccessProtectionFund.org and making a donation today.

###

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's (FWS) National Fish Hatchery System (NFHS) is responsible for stocking many of our nation's waters with the fish that anglers enjoy pursuing. Federal hatcheries across the U.S. raise and release millions of recreationally-important species such as rainbow trout to mitigate for the loss of native fisheries due to water development projects. In response to recent cuts in the federal budget, the FWS has proposed an $11 million reduction in NFHS funding, with $6 million coming from the account for operating mitigation hatcheries. If approved, this large reduction will result in the closure of nine hatcheries, seven of which are located in the southeastern U.S., greatly reducing angling opportunity in the region. The impacts of these closures will hit both anglers and local economies hard, as the operations of these hatcheries help support over 3,500 jobs and have an annual economic impact of over $325 million.

The Situation

The FWS provides millions of hatchery-reared fish to mitigate the impacts of dams and other man-made water projects by agencies such as the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation and the Tennessee Valley Authority. If the FWS does not receive full reimbursement for these efforts, they have proposed stopping operations at these nine hatcheries. If this happens, recreational fishing opportunities, especially in the southeastern U.S., will be severely reduced.

The Solution

The FWS is planning to direct money from the NFHS budget to alleviate the impact of funding cuts on other FWS programs and provide funding for new initiatives. These programs and new initiatives make few contributions to recreational fisheries. In the recent past, the FWS had sought reimbursement for mitigation hatchery operations. But now, because this reimbursement is unsure, the FWS is proposing to close the hatcheries and redirect any savings out of the Fisheries program. To keep these hatcheries operating, the FWS must either be assured of full reimbursement or restoration of NFHS base funding until reimbursements are negotiated. Unfortunately, neither of these options is likely to happen without Congressional mandate.

How You Can Help

Send a message to your Members of Congress urging them to take the necessary actions to restore the NFHS budget and keep our nation's hatcheries operating.

The Fisheries Science Improvement Act (H.R. 2034), introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) on June 23, 2011, with the support of a bi-partisan group of 18 other Members of Congress, seeks to ensure that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) is required to set catch limits based on data, not on guesstimates.

This legislation will guide federal fisheries management towards a more science-based approach and prevent NOAA Fisheries from setting arbitrary and overly-restrictive catch levels on numerous important recreational fisheries.

H.R. 2304 provides a timely path for NOAA Fisheries to manage all of America's marine fish stocks based on sound scientific data. View the Fishery Science Improvement Act Fact Sheet.

The Situation

As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act requires Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. The requirements were intended to end overfishing by 2011 but were predicated on two critical assumptions:

• NOAA Fisheries would make decisions based on up-to-date and accurate stock assessments
• NOAA Fisheries would improve catch data to better anticipate potential problems in a given fishery. Neither of these obligations has been met.

Scientific management should be the cornerstone of fisheries management at NOAA. However, the agency has felt compelled by statutory deadlines to make major fishery management decisions using inadequate data and incomplete analysis. NOAA Fisheries is simply making guesses in many cases when setting catch limits and in determining other management parameters, and guesswork should have no place in federal fisheries management.

How You Can Help

Send a message to your Member of Congress in support of the Fishery Science Improvement Act.

For Immediate Release
Contact:

ASA, Mary Jane Williamson, 703.519.9691, x227
CSF, Lance Lemmonds, 202.543.6850, x19
IGFA, Jason Schratwieser, 954.927.2628
TBF, Ellen Peel, 954.202.9267
NMMA, Christine Pomorski, 202.737.9774
Center, Jeff Angers, 225.931.9700
CCA, Ted Venker, 713.626.4234

Legislation Introduced to Stop Unwarranted Fisheries Closures
Anglers and industry groups unite to address catch limit problems in
federal saltwater fisheries

WASHINGTON, D.C. – June 23, 2011 – A bill introduced by Rep. Rob Wittman (R-VA) seeks to ensure that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Marine Fisheries Service is required to set catch limits based on sound science. The bi-partisan legislation, known as the Fishery Science Improvement Act (FSIA), is endorsed by the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus as well as a broad coalition of conservation, sportfishing and marine industry groups. Original co-sponsors of H.R. 2304 include Rep. Wittman's colleagues Reps. Mike Ross (D-AR); Jeff Miller (R-FL); Heath Shuler (D-NC); Bob Latta (R-OH); Jo Bonner (R-AL.); Dan Boren (D-OK); Charles Boustany (R-LA); Bill Cassidy (R-LA); Jeff Duncan (R-SC); John Fleming (R-LA); Frank Guinta (R-NH); Andy Harris (R-MD); Martin Heinrich (D-NM); Duncan Hunter (R-CA); Jeff Landry (R-LA); Scott Rigell (R-VA); and Steve Southerland (R-FL).

"We applaud the vision and leadership of Mr. Wittman and the other FSIA co-sponsors," said Congressional Sportsman's Foundation President Jeff Crane. "The sportfishing community is facing an unacceptable situation in which arbitrary deadlines are being allowed to trump the essential need for science-based management of our marine resources. We are grateful to Mr. Wittman and his colleagues for identifying the problem we have in federal saltwater fisheries and taking action on this issue."

As amended in 2006, the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (MSA) requires Regional Fishery Management Councils to put in place annual catch limits (ACLs) and accountability measures (AMs) for every fishery by December 31, 2011. The requirements were intended to end overfishing by 2011 but were predicated on two critical assumptions: NOAA Fisheries would make decisions based on up-to-date and accurate stock assessments; and the agency would improve catch data to better anticipate potential problems in a given fishery. Neither of these obligations has been met.

To maintain the conservation tenets of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, FSIA would not apply to stocks that are determined to be overfished. However, it offers three key components that are intended to steer NOAA Fisheries back to the true intention of the 2006 MSA reauthorization:

• If the agency has not done a stock assessment on a particular stock in the last five years, and there is no indication that overfishing is occurring, an annual catch limit on that stock is not required.
• FSIA gives NOAA Fisheries three years to work with the regional councils to figure out how to implement science-based measures that are appropriate for each region and its fisheries.
• To avoid removing fish species from management entirely due to lack of data, NOAA Fisheries is currently designating a limited number of such stocks as "ecosystem components," allowing the continued federal management of the stock without the requirement to implement an annual catch limit or accountability measure. FSIA codifies the agency's designation and expands the universe of stocks protected in this category.

The federal government currently has approximately 528 fish stocks or complexes of stocks under management and only 110 of those stocks are considered "adequately assessed." If the agency does not have the data to even guesstimate an annual catch limit for some species, there is currently an option for the agency to simply remove those stocks from all management protections, which is not a desirable result. H.R. 2304 provides a timely path for NOAA Fisheries to manage all of America's marine fish stocks based on sound scientific data. Click here for the Fishery Science Improvement Act Fact Sheet.

The Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus – the largest bi-partisan, bi-cameral caucus in the U.S. Congress with nearly 300 Members representing all 50 states – has lent its powerful voice for this legislation that will safeguard the strong conservation standards of the Magnuson-Stevens Act while addressing the shortcomings within NOAA Fisheries. The bill also has the support of American Sportfishing Association (ASA), Center for Coastal Conservation (Center), Coastal Conservation Association (CCA), Congressional Sportsmen's Foundation (CSF), International Game Fish Association (IGFA), National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and The Billfish Foundation (TBF).

Comments offered today by coalition group leaders:

American Sportfishing Association
Mike Nussman, President and CEO
"NOAA Fisheries, although far from being able to meet the requirements of the Magnuson-Stevens Act, is going ahead with onerous fishery management decisions anyway, despite the impacts on the nation's 13 million saltwater anglers and the tens of thousands of businesses that depend on marine recreational fishing," said Mike Nussman, president and CEO, American Sportfishing Association. "When the Magnuson-Stevens Act was reauthorized by unanimous consent in December 2006, NOAA Fisheries was tasked with gathering the science to set catch limits on federally managed species. The agency has not used its resources to achieve that goal, and the results are not acceptable. The Fishery Science Improvement Act goes a long way to solving this critical problem."

The Billfish Foundation
Ellen Peel, President
"To the credit of the leadership at NOAA, Jane Lubchenco and Eric Schwaab, there has been much outreach and a substantial effort to try to solve this problem," said Ellen Peel, president of The Billfish Foundation. "We've worked very closely with the agency to craft this solution, and we look forward to continuing a dialogue with them to fix the problem."

Center for Coastal Conservation
Jeff Angers, President
"The conservation tenets of the Magnuson-Stevens Act are important to anglers, and so is a level of confidence and trust in the federal fisheries management system," said Jeff Angers, president of the Center for Coastal Conservation. "The Fishery Science Improvement Act will help move us beyond the crisis management of today into sound management that makes economic sense for the country, conservation sense for the resource and common sense for anglers."

Coastal Conservation Association
Pat Murray, President
"Fixing the federal management system for America's fisheries is a process that won't occur overnight," said Pat Murray, president of the Coastal Conservation Association. "FSIA is an important step enabling NOAA Fisheries to protect our nation's fisheries, but not create unwarranted recreational closures."

International Game Fish Association
Rob Kramer, President
"The goal here is not to water down the law to fit the agency, but rather to build up the agency to fulfill its significant responsibilities under the law," said International Game Fish Association President Rob Kramer. "Data gathering and stock assessments carried out in a consistent fashion all around the country should be the absolute highest priority at NOAA Fisheries."

National Marine Manufacturers Association
Thom Dammrich, President
"This bill is simple and targeted," said Thom Dammrich, president of the National Marine Manufacturers Association. "As sportsmen, we have a specific problem with how NOAA Fisheries is being forced to implement the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and it has become apparent that we need Congress to address it. Without Congressional action, arbitrary decisions affecting millions of anglers and thousands of businesses will continue to be made."

Do you remember who taught you to fish? Do you remember learning to bait your first hook or cast your first fly? Have you shared your passion and your knowledge of fishing with the next generation of anglers?

Unfortunately, government regulators and anti-fishing activists are threatening to take away our right to fish with family and friends by restricting access to our public waters. But you can fight back and help ensure our right to sustainably fish on our nation's waterways by making a $25, $50, $75 or more donation to KeepAmericaFishing™ by June 30.

As a thank you for every $5 you donate, we'll send you a FISH! decal that you can proudly display on your car, truck or boat. Donate now and let people know that you are taking an active role in keeping our waters open to recreational fishing, now and for generations to come.

At KeepAmericaFishing, we work to ensure that you and our nation's 60 million anglers have a voice when decisions are made that affect recreational fishing. Please help us to spread the word about KeepAmericaFishing by donating $25, $50, $75 or more by June 30.

Fighting for your right to fish!

Gordon Robertson
KeepAmericaFishing™

Sacramento, CA – June 6, 2011 – A San Diego Superior Court judge has ordered that the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ocean Conservancy have no legal right to intervene in a lawsuit that seeks to preserve ocean sportfishing in California. That lawsuit, filed on January 27, 2011, by members of the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PSO) – United Anglers of Southern California, Coastside Fishing Club and Bob Fletcher – asks the court to set aside regulations established through the "Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative" which created massive fishing closures along California's North Central and South Coasts. On the matter of intervention, members of the PSO argued, and the judge agreed, that the two environmental organizations did not have a direct and immediate interest in the litigation, and therefore will not be allowed to intervene on the side of the Fish and Game Commission.

"This is a significant victory for our overall legal effort," said Dave Elm, Chairman of United Anglers of Southern California. "The state is capable of representing itself in this case, and allowing the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ocean Conservancy to intervene on their side would have only created additional burdens for the Court and unnecessarily added to our legal costs."

The lawsuit against the MLPA Initiative cites a lack of statutory authority for the California Fish and Game Commission to adopt the closure regulations, and, in the case of the South Coast regulations, numerous violations of the California Environmental Quality Act in the Commission's environmental review of the regulations. Soon after its filing, legal counsel for the Natural Resources Defense Council and Ocean Conservancy announced that they would seek to intervene on the side of the Commission.  Had intervention been allowed, these groups would have become parties to the litigation with full rights to participate.

"These environmental groups have played a major role in influencing the MLPA Initiative towards excessive and unnecessary fishing closures through a seriously flawed process," said Bob Fletcher of the Sportfishing Association of California and former Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Fish and Game. "Throughout the MLPA process, anglers have had the deck stacked against us due in large part to the deep pockets of these pro-closure environmental organizations. We finally have a level playing field in the courts, and fortunately we have one important factor on our side – we're right."

The ruling on intervention is the latest in a series of victories for California's sportfishing community in the legal effort against the MLPA Initiative. Last year, Fletcher filed and won a suit against the MLPA Blue Ribbon Task Force and Master Plan Team– also known as the Science Advisory Team – for failing to provide documents related to their MLPA planning efforts. These groups incorrectly claimed that they were not required to make their records available to the public under the Public Records Act on the ground that they are not "state agencies." Once these records were finally disclosed, numerous long-standing suspicions about the lack of openness and transparency within the MLPA process were confirmed, including that the Blue Ribbon Task Force met numerous times outside of the public view in scheduled private meetings.

On March 11, 2011, a California Superior Court ruling ordered the Blue Ribbon Task Force and Master Plan Team to pay 100-percent of the legal fees incurred by members of the PSO in the Public Records Act case.

"Clearly our legal effort has strong standing, as the court has now decided in our favor three times," noted Elm. "However, these victories don't come cheap. I urge all anglers, and anyone who supports public access to public resources, to help us fight the flawed MLPA process in the courts by visiting www.OceanAccessProtectionFund.org and making a donation today."

###

Agricultural interests are spending millions of dollars on lawsuits and campaigns in an attempt to overturn important biological opinions and increase private water rights. Increased water diversion for agricultural irrigation is having a devastating impact on recreational salmon fishing and businesses that depend on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta's fishery.

Despite the extreme environmental consequences of over-pumping, private interests, notably the San Joaquin Valley agricultural water contractors are attempting to control even more of the public's water. At times this diversion is so high that it can actually reverse the natural flow of the San Joaquin River.

Because of the impacts of high volume pumping rates on salmon, fishery managers closed the salmon fishing season in 2008 and 2009 and severely curtailed the 2010 season. Despite fishery closures, the region's salmon populations will not be able to recover until water management deficiencies are properly addressed. California's salmon fisheries are edging towards a collapse and cannot afford to lose more water to private agricultural interests.

What is the Solution?

Two of the Delta's four salmon runs are currently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are required to evaluate any project that may impact ESA-listed fish and issue a biological opinion. In response to the recent salmon crash, both agencies issued new biological opinions in 2009. These called for reduced pumping rates and improved upriver habitat conditions. While this is a large improvement from previous policies, more change is necessary if all four runs are to recover.

Learn more.

Take Action!

Send a message to your Members of Congress and the Secretaries of the Interior and Commerce urging them to support and uphold the current biological opinions. California's salmon are an invaluable resource that cannot be sold out to private interests.

Yet that's exactly what's happening across the country. Policy makers along with anti-fishing activists are threatening to take away our right to fish by restricting access to our public waters.

That's why KeepAmericaFishing™ is determined to fight back and preserve our right to fish – but we need your help!

When you support KeepAmericaFishing, with a donation of $25 or more, you'll receive the Frabill Line Saber with LED light, the handiest line-cutting tool you'll ever find ... absolutely free.

With your help, we will send a loud and clear message to special interest groups who are threatening the sport we love.

You can help by contributing $50, $75, $100 or more right now and receive the Frabill Line Saber with LED light as a special thank you – absolutely free.

With your support, this is one snag we can fix.

Fighting for your right to fish!

Gordon Robertson
KeepAmericaFishing™

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The Situation

Alaska's Bristol Bay is home to the world's largest sockeye salmon runs and supports important recreational fisheries, including rainbow trout, grayling, Dolly Varden Arctic char and large numbers of king, coho and chum salmon. It's also supports a way of life and provides food and income for thousands of Alaska's citizens and visitors.

In the past decade deposits of copper, gold and molybdenum have been discovered at Bristol Bay's headwaters, setting off a flurry of claim-staking. The largest of these proposals, Pebble Mine, could become a 20-square mile mining compound with a pit thousands of feet deep and several miles wide, making it 30 times larger than the current largest mine in Alaska.  The Pebble Mine poses a clear and present danger to the region's phenomenal sport fisheries and a great tradition that has been passed down for generations.

If allowed to open, the Pebble Mine could produce up to 10 billion tons of toxic waste over its lifetime, which will need to be contained in perpetuity because of the impact of its acidic byproducts. This waste will supposedly be stored in a in a ten square-mile containment pond and held back from the freshwater habitat of the Bay by the world's largest earthen dam. This area is known for frequent earthquakes, putting the watershed at great risk for a toxic spill, which would cause severe and possibly irreparable damage to the fishery and the Bay.

Take Action

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act to veto a location for the disposal of dredged or fill material, even before a permit is submitted, if the waste run-off will have unacceptable adverse effects on water purity, fish, wildlife and recreational areas – as expected for Pebble Mine. EPA has been asked to take this action by a local coalition of tribal governments, commercial fishermen and hunters and anglers.  Sportsmen and women can help protect this region and our legacy by sending a message to the EPA today and a copy to your Members of Congress. Urge the EPA and your Members of Congress to exercise their authority to protect Alaska's sport fisheriesand the people that depend on Bristol Bay for their livelihoods.

Follow this link to send a message to the EPA and Congress today.

The Situation

Lack of access is the primary reason that keeps anglers from enjoying a day on the water. With expanding land development and growing regulations restricting angler access, federally owned lands are more important than ever for recreational fishing opportunity. However, a recent Congressional report concluded that more than 35 million acres of land owned by two federal land management agencies – the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service – have inadequate access for sportsmen and women.

The Solution

The Making Public Lands Public Access Act (S. 901), introduced in Congress on May 5, 2011, will increase access to angling, hunting and recreational shooting opportunities on federal lands. The legislation directs that a minimum of $10 million be used to ensure that fishing, hunting and other recreational activities are accessible for these purposes. The funding for access projects such as easements and access roads would come from existing Land and Water Conservation Fund monies that come from offshore oil and gas leases.

This legislation does not seek to increase the amount of land owned by the government, but instead enhances recreational access in existing national parks, forests and other federally owned lands.

Take Action

The Making Public Lands Public Access Act could open hundreds of thousands of acres of federal land to recreational fishing, hunting and shooting. Follow this link to send a message to your Senators urging them to support S. 901.

Sacramento, CA – May 6, 2011 – Although the California Fish and Game Commission (FGC) adopted regulations in December 2010, to close much of southern California's best coastal waters to sportfishing, the regulations still must go through additional steps before they become law. The regulations, adopted as part of the state's Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) process, must still be submitted to, reviewed and approved by California's Office of Administrative Law before legally going into effect.

In response to the general uncertainty within the sportfishing community as to when the South Coast MLPA regulations will be effective, the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans (PSO), which represents California's recreational fishing and boating community, sent a letter to the Department of Fish and Game expressing serious concerns about the lack of accurate information provided to anglers about the effective date of the South Coast MLPA regulations. According to the California Department of Fish and Game, as stated during the May 4-5, 2011 California Fish and Game Commission meeting, this will occur in Fall 2011 at the earliest. However, the department's Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet, posted March 1, 2011, erroneously states that the regulations will go into effect Spring 2011, and the Department's website currently states only that the regulations are expected to be effective Mid-2011.

"In talking with numerous anglers, I've noticed that there is considerable confusion about whether or not these areas of the ocean are still open to recreational fishing," said Bob Fletcher, former president of the Sportfishing Association of California. "On behalf of the Partnership for Sustainable Oceans, I'd like Southern California's anglers, and the tens-of-thousands more who come to this region to fish each year, to know they are still free to pursue our state's healthy marine fisheries."

"Whether intentional or not, the Department of Fish and Game has done an extremely poor job in telling anglers when the South Coast regulations will go into effect ," continued Fletcher. "This lack of communication is causing anglers to unnecessarily stay off the water for fear that the regulations are already in place."

Fletcher further said, "During the May Fish and Game Commission meeting, Commissioner Richard Rogers was so brash as to proclaim that anglers should currently abide by the MLPA regulations, notwithstanding the Department's failure to complete the required regulatory process. The regulations have no legal effect until then. Unlike fellow Commissioners Jim Kellogg and Dan Richards, who have seriously weighed the huge economic burden that the MLPA will place on businesses and the state, Rogers continues his unabashed anti-business and anti-recreational fishing stance. Now is the time for Governor Brown to replace Rogers with a more sensible and objective Commissioner."

In addition to having yet to be finalized procedurally, the MLPA regulations in the South Coast are currently being challenged in the courts. On January 27, 2011, United Anglers of Southern California, Coastside Fishing Club and Bob Fletcher filed a lawsuit in the San Diego County Superior Court seeking to set aside the MLPA regulations for the North Central and South Coast study regions. The lawsuit cites a lack of statutory authority for the Fish and Game Commission to adopt the regulations, and, in the case of the South Coast regulations, numerous violations of the California Environmental Quality Act, in the commission's environmental review of the regulations.

"Although anglers can still fish throughout most of southern California's coastal waters, it may not be this way for long," said John Riordan of United Anglers of Southern California. "I encourage all anglers, and anyone who supports public access to public resources, to help us fight the flawed MLPA process in the courts by visiting www.OceanAccessProtectionFund.org and making a donation today."

The Situation

The Coastal Game Fish Bill, HB 353, introduced on March 16, in the North Carolina House of Representatives, seeks to designate striped bass, red drum and spotted sea trout as game fish in state waters. By designating these three species as game fish, they will be managed solely as recreational fish for the use and enjoyment of the public and will not be available for commercial harvest and sale.

Striped bass, red drum and spotted sea trout represent only 2 percent of North Carolina's commercial harvest with a $9.4 million economic impact, while recreational fishing for these fish contributes over $120 million annually to North Carolina's economy. Similar measures in South Carolina, Florida and Texas have resulted in healthier and more abundant fish populations in their waters with the associated economic benefits.

Striped bass, red drum and spotted sea trout are prized catches in North Carolina and must be conserved for future generations to enjoy. The Coastal Game Fish Bill will limit these fish to recreational take, improving the quality of recreational fishing and boosting their economic impact in North Carolina.

Over the past decade, efforts have increased to eliminate the sale and use of lead fishing tackle, including sinkers, jigs and other widely used tackle. Last November anglers like you helped to defeat the most recent attempt to ban lead tackle nationwide when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied a petition to ban lead fishing tackle under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

Despite the EPA's ruling, this issue is not yet fully resolved. KeepAmericaFishing™ is asking anglers to rally behind legislation that will definitively protect our right to sustainably fish on our nation’s waterways.

The Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act, introduced by the chairs of the Congressional Sportsmen's Caucus - Senators Jon Tester (D-MT) and John Thune (R-SD) and Representatives Jeff Miller (R-FL) and Mike Ross (D-AR) - will prevent a federal ban on lead in recreational fishing tackle and help to ensure that any future regulations on fishing tackle are established based on scientific data instead of unjustified petitions.

Please, contact your Members of Congress today urging them to co-sponsor S. 838 and H.R. 1558, the Hunting, Fishing and Recreational Shooting Sports Protection Act.

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Background

Since his 2005 appointment to the California Fish and Game Commission, Commissioner Richard Rogers has been one of the most vocal supporters of the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) Initiative. The MLPA is a controversial program that threatens sportfishing in California by unnecessarily closing large areas of the ocean to recreational fishing, and ignores the real problems affecting California's coastal waters, such as habitat loss and pollution.

Even though his term expired on January 15, 2011, Rogers still holds his seat on the Commission. Governor Brown needs to take action and name a new commissioner to take Rogers' seat.

Thanks to angler advocates in Connecticut, New England and across the nation, this legislation is no longer being considered for action by the Connecticut General assembly. Even though the bill received a public hearing in the Environment Committee, no vote occurred prior to the committee's deadline of March 25, 2011, rendering it ineligible for further action.

We will send you a free FISH! decal to thank you for your continued support when you complete the survey by April 30.

Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Our Members of Congress need to hear from our nation’s 60 million anglers that fishery conservation and management should not disproportionately bear the burden of trying to reduce the federal deficit. KeepAmericaFishing™ is your conduit to Congress. Let your voice be heard!

Anglers like you recently helped stop legislation in the Oregon State Legislature that aimed to remove limits and conservation measures from non-native species. Despite known angler concerns, Representative Paul Hovey recently introduced a new bill, H.B. 2008, that would do just that. We need your help to fight back against this latest attempt to strip the Oregon State Fish and Wildlife Commission’s ability to employ and enforce fishery conservation measures.

Over the past 10 years from California to Florida, from Louisiana to Michigan, we've seen a dramatic increase in efforts to restrict or outright ban recreational fishing as a substitute for good fisheries management. We support healthy fisheries and good fisheries management but this trend cannot continue. Read More...